Shekhar Kapur recalls childhood nights under the stars in an unpolluted Delhi

Mumbai, April 15 (IANS) Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has reminisced about his childhood, recalling nights spent sleeping under the stars in a Delhi that was free from the heavy pollution it faces today.

Reflecting on a simpler time, Kapur shared his memories of peaceful evenings in a city that once offered clear skies and fresh air. On Tuesday, the director took to his Instagram handle and shared a heartwarming memory of summer nights spent sleeping on the terrace of his one-storey house. He shared a captivating photo of the starry night sky, offering a glimpse of the vastness he once gazed at as a child.

For the caption, Shekhar wrote, “There was a time when Delhi was not a polluted city. Not even light pollution. In summer we would sleep on the terrace of our one storey house. Beneath the open Skies. The stars were so bright, they would cast their own shadow. I was about 9 years old. I would gaze at the stars endlessly .. and the Milky Way fascinated me. I asked my Mother .. ‘How far does Space go? ‘Forever’ She said ..”

He added, “I was the age where education had started control my mind. I was taught that for something to be anything it had to measurable. It had to be definable. Defined by the quantifiable Distance Length, Breadth, Weight and the one other dimension we are still grappling with. Time. But ‘Forever’ ?? As a 9 year old I would lie awake at night. Trying to imagine ‘Forever’ stretching my imagination as far as it would .. trying to touch that realm called ‘Forever.”

His post further read, “Of course it was emotion turmoil for. I would lie there. Unable to sleep. Tears of frustration and anguish streaming down. For if something to be anything, it had be definable, so what was this cauldron of magic called ‘Forever’ where I the definable, existed inside the undefinable ? That’s when I discovered the magic potion. The magic of stories. Each night I would turn the infinite into a Story. A different one.. The great Axe Man. Swinging his celestial Axe. Through Time. And at the tip of the Axe was my Universe .. in which I existed , lying in my bed staring out at the Celestial Axe Man. One day the Axe would hit the Celestial Tree. .. but not just yet.. a long long time away .. soo long away that I could sleep now ..So I turned something indefinable into definable .. Time .. suddenly comfortable enough to sleep. All stories are our attempt to find our finite selves in the undefinable infinite .. find ourselves in ‘forever’ … As is all Mythology.”

--IANS

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