The much-awaited celestial phenomenon of a total solar eclipse left thousands of people disappointed in Surat on Wednesday morning,with the overcast condition playing the spoilsport. Locals,foreigners and scientists from different parts of the country had gathered at Amitya Vidya Mandir School at Kamrej and Surat airport to witness what was termed as the most significant solar eclipse of the century. But all that they could see was darkness. While Chief Minister Narendra Modi cancelled his visit due to bad weather,former Union minister Arun Shourie was present among thousand others,including Congress and BJP MPs and MLAs,at the airport. It was a great experience,and at the same time,unfortunate,too,as we could not see the total solar eclipse. In many parts of the county people take bath in rivers. But it was not seen in the city; people were seen at the rooftops, said Shourie. Hariom Vatsh,a scientist with the Physical Research Laboratory,Ahmedabad said: We experienced total darkness for three minutes and a few seconds. Surat was the best place in the world to see the total solar eclipse. But due to overcast conditions,the diamond ring was not visible. Cutting across age groups,people in thousands woke up early in the morning and reached the airport and Kamrej school to witness the historical celestial activity. The road leading to the airport reported traffic jams at many places. Fazar namaz (morning prayer) was seen lasting relatively longer at various places in the city in the wake of the eclipse. Rupesh Vohra,a local businessman,said the scene in the morning was somewhat different,as almost all the city people came down on the roads. We saw people enjoying the moment as if some religious event was going on in the city, he added. The entire preparation was administered by District Collector Dilip Rawal with the help of municipal commissioner S Aparna.
