Most Sundays, my wife insists we get outdoors as a family. With Delhi heating up, that’s becoming a challenge — especially with two small boys in tow.
Just as I was scanning a list of outdoor options in Delhi, my wife suggested the Planetarium — perfect timing. Thanks to Google maps, I was able to quickly book tickets for a show titled "Birth of the Universe," and the entire family, including my parents who are visiting, headed out.
I was going to a Planetarium after decades, and I was genuinely excited. I was doubly excited seeing the sense of wonder in my older son who was trying to wrap his head around a show in a dome theatre, not knowing the meaning of either dome or theatre. He had recently been introduced to the word universe, so he was mighty curious about what was in store for him, for us.
The roads to the Planetarium are some of Delhi's best. The Planetarium itself is inside the recently inaugurated Prime Ministers Museum, which added to the majesty and mystery of this unique experience. The military police present to check ids before we were allowed entry into the campus, made my son even more curious about the place we were heading to.
And then he saw a rocket, hidden behind trees. He was awestruck. In his 4 year old mind he decided that this was the rocket that will take us all into space to witness the birth of the universe. His excitement as we entered the planetarium was something to behold. This was like no other place my son had visited. We took our place. He was too small and light to push back on his seat, so he quickly shifted to my lap.
The next 40 minutes were pure joy for me. Seeing my son lost in wonder — the show, the visuals, the sound, the colours, the stories he was making up to make sense of everything he saw.
It was also a gentle reminder: when did I stop getting lost in wonder?