Milky Way

Many, many years ago, my parents and I were driving back to Bangalore at night. Somewhere near Hosur, don't remember the place, there was a road block. A lorry had toppled, and vehicles were asked to take a detour. It was pitch dark and there was just a truck in front of us. Our driver spoke to the truck driver and both took the deviation. This was a time before mobile phones; no google maps, the roads were slender ribbons of asphalt flanked by towering trees. It grew darker as we drove through the lonely roads. We could see the silhouette of village huts here and there. It was a moonless night. The sky was a deep dark blue. There were no artificial lights to cut through the darkness, no glow of the city lights - just the symphony of two vehicles rumbling in the night and the headlights showing the way. Through the window and a labyrinth of branches I saw a star studded sky. It was spellbinding. Whenever a clearing allowed an unobstructed view of the heavens, a countless cluster of stars could be seen. I showed it to my dad. But we did not dare to stop and get down to watch. The detour was for a few kilometers. When we managed to connect to the main road, the glittering sky was gone. It was possibly a glimpse of the Milky Way. And I want to see it once again.