Food cooked during an eclipse is considered impure and should be discarded

Setting: Two friends, Arjun and Ravi, are sitting on the terrace of Arjun’s house in Madurai, sipping coffee on a warm evening. A lunar eclipse is about to occur later that night.

Arjun: (checking his phone)
Da, Ravi, listen. Today’s eclipse starts at 9 PM. My mom already told me not to eat anything cooked during it. She’s even making me throw out the dosa batter if it’s left outside.

Ravi: (laughs)
Machan, seriously? Poor dosa batter, what did it do wrong? It’s just sitting there, dreaming of becoming crispy dosas.

Arjun: (earnest)
I’m telling you, it’s not a joke! During an eclipse, harmful rays come out. The food gets spoiled, becomes impure. Elders have been warning us about this for generations.

Ravi: (grinning)
So basically, the dosa batter is catching some deadly cosmic disease now?

Arjun: (half laughing, half serious)
Dei! Don’t make fun. There are vibrations… bad energy… You know, my grandmother says even pregnant women should stay indoors with a coconut tied around their stomachs during the eclipse!

Ravi: (chuckling)
Coconut armor, ah? Very innovative. But seriously, think about it. Eclipses are just shadows, da. The Earth, Sun, and Moon are just lining up neatly like good boys. No poisonous rays, no bad vibrations. NASA scientists eat pizza during eclipses without any problem, machi.

Arjun: (frowning)
Maybe they don’t believe, but here… it’s different. Our traditions are meant to protect us. Maybe there’s something we don’t understand.

Ravi: (nodding thoughtfully)
I get it. Traditions often had a purpose. Long back, without refrigerators, food left out too long in humid Indian weather would spoil easily. Maybe eclipses, being at odd hours, just made people more cautious. You can imagine – it’s dark, weird things happening in the sky – better safe than sorry, no?

Arjun: (intrigued but defensive)
Hmm… maybe. But even my uncle, who’s an engineer, doesn’t eat eclipse food. Not just old people, even educated ones.

Ravi:
Education doesn’t automatically erase beliefs da. Look, my cousin is a software developer, but he still checks his horoscope before buying an iPhone. (laughs)
Beliefs are sticky. Sometimes they comfort us more than facts.

Arjun: (grinning)
True, true. Even I don’t cut nails at night because my amma scolds me!

Ravi: (playfully)
Exactly! See? Long ago, they said “don’t cut nails at night” because there was no electricity and people might injure themselves. Now, we have tube lights, LEDs, even emergency lights. But amma’s warnings are stronger than 1000 watts, no?

Arjun: (laughing)
Correct da, correct. But still… what if something happens? Just to be safe, I’m not eating anything during the eclipse. After 12 AM, once it’s over, full-on feast!

Ravi: (raising his coffee mug)
Fair enough, machan. I’ll eat your share during the eclipse. Free food tastes the best when it’s forbidden!

Arjun: (mock serious)
Aiyo! Then don’t come crying to me with stomach ache tomorrow.

Ravi: (grinning)
If I survive the cosmic dosa batter, you owe me a coffee treat.

Arjun: (laughing)
Deal! But if you fall sick, I’ll say “I told you so” in front of everyone!

[They laugh together, the sound carrying into the warm night, while the faint shadow of the upcoming eclipse edges closer.]