India, July 7 -- "That moment was special," said Abhay Deshpande, a volunteer with astronomy club Khagol Mandal, recalling a sky-watching session they had organised in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur during the total solar eclipse on October 24, 1995.

Thousands of sky-gazers and astronomy enthusiasts had flocked the area to witness the rare celestial event. But the local population, mired in superstition, viewed it as a supernatural phenomenon - they remained indoors, avoiding even a glimpse at the sky; observed fasts during the period; and performed a raft of rituals thereafter to counter 'inauspicious' effects.

Volunteers from Khagol Mandal had encountered many similar situations in Maharashtra, where they worked, during their ten-year journ...