The planet was exceptionally bright in the night sky and appeared with a sort of bluish hue! It also appeared to be twinkling on this particular night. Planets normally do not do that! But on this night, Jupiter, the planet who had a special place in all ancient cultures and science twinkled! In Hinduism, he is called "Guru" (Teacher) the harbinger of auspiciousness, as Guru holds a very special place in Hindu culture. In ancient Rome he was the king of Gods, also known as Zeus in Greece and was known to hurl his fiery thunderbolt at his enemies. From a scientific perspective, this was Jupiter, the largest of the Gas giants. And the planet Jupiter was continously pounded on that night by a comet hurtling through space at an incredible speed of 37 miles/second. The impact seemed so clearly visible on earth. The planet on that day twinkled, probably it was the effect of the impact of Schumachar Levi. And on that day, unkowingly I fell in love with the art of gazing at the heavens! On a clear cloudless night, nothing brings greater peace to the soul than to gaze at the starry skies above or to marvel at the inner workings of the Human soul. I realized this truth long before I heard the same quote by Immanual Kant. 
And when I actually began to study astrophysics during tenth grade, I was filled with wonder and awe at the immense and probably unbounded Universe. I also diligently read Stephen Hawking's "The brief history of time". I also happened to watch a show called "Stephen Hawking's universe" where I was introduced to String theory, concept of Parallel universes etc. I could not grasp the concept of String theory until I saw the truly eloquent documentary by Dr.Brian Greene called the Elegant universe. Anyway, I meander from the point I was trying to convey. It was that I had fallen in love with astronomy and astrophysics. Many a nights I would be sitting in the terrace gazing at the stars and making my own little observations. One object that always fascinated me was the constellation Orion. It never was difficult to spot the familiar shape of a hunter or deer (Depending on which philosophy you follow). This constellation is located in the celestial equator and is visible through out the world. I had read that many a star births happened in a thick soup of Star dust in the horse head nebula located in this constellation. I would look for interesting books on astronomy and thumb through high resolution pictures of this nebula in the shape of a stallion.
I do not know why, I always was fascinated by this constellation. The Rig Veda describes this constellation as Mriga (Deer). The Greek mythology describes Orion as a demi God and the son of Poseidon. He was supposedly a giant who would walk on the oceans and the water would only be as high as his waist. After his death, the Gods are said to have honored him with a permanent place in the heavens. The Egyptians associated Orion with their God Osiris, who was in charge of rebirth and afterlife. Many of the shafts in the pyramids of Giza seem to point towards Orion. The pyramids themselves some researchers claim are shaped like the belt of Orion. The Hopi Indians of the American South West chose the three Mesas to settle down in Arizona because they seemed to resemble the star formation in the belt of Orion. The Babylonians also believed Orion was like the Sheperd of the skies and took special interest in Orion. Also the great city of Tenocitlan built by the Mayans in antiquity also seems to resemble the star formation in Orion. The "Gods" from orion are said to have come to Tenochitlan to converse with the Mayan Kings. It is probably for this reason that the city came to be called the "City of the Gods".
I always used to gaze upon this constellation and never before realized that my special interest in this constellation during those star gazing sessions was unique. Many of our ancestors were intrigued by Orion. In fact if one were to look at the ancient accounts on Orion with a different light, one might see that all ancient cultures seem to point at Orion as the source of the birth of Human beings on earth. This makes one wonder if our ancestors came from the heavens. We all know that we come from Stardust. We are all made up of celestial matter. In fact one of the reasons why I used to gaze so intently at the stars was to try to find answers to some questions. Questions like, "Are we alone in the Universe?". If yes why? If no, who else is there? And why haven't they made contact with us?". That is why I find topics like Roswell and Area 51 to be excellent Dinner table conversations. It is my ardent desire to travel the wide expanse of planet earth to find answers to so many questions. Nowadays when I look at the stars, I am reminded of a quote by Rumi -"We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering like stardust". My gut feeling always tells me, how true!
