I stumbled upon the best deal in history.
Being the longest and most complete eclipse of the Sun I have seen was exciting in itself. That apart, once I got bored of taking pictures of it directly, I ventured to fish out my once-used binoculars from the viscera of my home (which ended successfully). Several attempts at powering up my astronomically challenged digicam with my binoculars were made, all in vain. Or at least, it would seem so until I realized that the combination was great for macro photography in low light (w00t!).
The binoculars were put to great use nonetheless and earned my brother a few skeptical looks from the mallu baays playing cricket in the waxing and waning afternoon sun. The grahana witnessed nobody else from the apartments - the ajji downstairs declined the offer and the baays seemed more interested in the binoculars than in the eclipse, which I suspect they were unaware of.
Great family fun, all the more because my brother, whom I generally consider to be a disinterested sort of fellow, was quite enthusiastic about the whole thing.
A great dinner at the new Malnad restaurant across the street sealed the day.
