KARACHI – The first solar eclipse of 2011 on Tuesday (today) that will also be witnessed in the city will harbinger a sea-related natural disaster that will hit the city in the next few months, predicted Hindu pundit Maharaj Premchand Giyanchandani.
There is a silver lining, however, as the pundit foretold more jobs and better business for most Karachiites. “Karachi comes in the Makar Rasi or Capricorn zone, which means the influence of the sea-goat. The fall of the partial solar eclipse at the start of the year would bring something negative – it will come from the sea and will be on a Saturday,” said Giyanchandani.
“But besides that, there are many positive signs for the city; that includes a lot of money earning and job opportunities for residents of the city.” According to Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), the eclipse will be observed throughout the Pakistan with a maximum 13 percent obscuration of the solar disk.
In Karachi, the partial solar eclipse will start at 2.02 pm; the greatest eclipse will be at 2:46 pm while the partial eclipse will end at 3.25 pm. As much as 3.3 percent of the solar disk will be covered. Apart from Pakistan, the solar eclipse will also be witnessed across Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia.
A meteor shower will also take place around dawn on Tuesday, but it will not be seen in Pakistan; the meteor shower will only be visible in Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Astrologers believe that the meteor shower is an annual quadrantid shower – one that produces more than 100 meteors per hour from a radiant near the North Star, and is experienced when the planet travels through the debris left by a comet.
Pundit Giyanchandani further predicted that the solar eclipse would bring positive news for the people with zodiac sign of Capricorn (or Makar in Hindu astronomy) and negative impacts for people of the Cancer (Kark) sign. He also warned that pregnant women must be careful while cutting something or touching a sharp object, and cautioned them from watching or even passing by any reflecting surface (mirrors etc) during the eclipse. Such fears are held by some superstitious people; medical experts, however, reject this hypothesis.
In the Hindu belief system, lunar and solar eclipses are punishments handed down to planets for sins committed by humans. The event is a serious happening for many Hindus: all engagements and assignments are cancelled, and some even take days off from their workplaces. Many also fast and plan special prayers on the day reciting Surya mantra throughout the duration of the partial solar eclipse.
Superstition also extends to Muslim families; parents of children with lower limbs paralysis believe that they need to bury the lower part of their kids’ torso at the beach for them to be cured. For an astrologer or an astronomer, or even someone interested in celestial events, 2011 will be eventful – there would be four partial solar and two total lunar eclipses till December.
According to SUPARCO, the four partial solar eclipses will be witnessed on January 4, June 1, July 1 and November 25. The two full lunar eclipses will fall on June 15 and December 10.
