Musician Siennor is clear about his plans for the weekend. He is going to be all the way in Chidambaram, six hours away from the light pollution that Chennai abundantly dispenses, to ensure that he gets the perfect view of the highly anticipated Perseid meteor shower between August 12 and 14.
“If all goes well, we will be able to spot 70 meteors per hour at 4am from the place we are at,” says the singer behind the Tamil indie hit ‘Ponnira Malai’.
Under this sky full of stars, he will be performing songs — new and old — in their acoustic form because he loves singing for small, intimate crowds. “When I sing in such spaces, the music is raw. There are no amplifiers. Mukkavasi kaathu satham dhan (It is mostly the sound of air. It is overwhelming,” he says.
This is Siennor’s second such tie-up with Starvoirs, a Chennai-based startup which organises stargazing trips across the world. During his first outing with the group founded by Bhavandhi Babulal, he performed on a boat at dusk in Andaman as thousands of parrots flew over his head.
“We saw meteors which lasted between six and eight seconds. While coming back, we also encountered bioluminescence. The waves turned blue when we touched it. It was magical and helped us unwind in a world that is essentially fast-paced,” he says.
Look up
Bhavanandi who lost himself to the stars back in 2015 was a banker who inhabited this hasty world that Siennor references. Today, he curates trips to Masai Mara, Nagaland and Kodanad in Tamil Nadu, among other locations to help others catch glimpses of Jupiter and Mars amongst other celestial bodies.
To him, stargazing is now a way of life. He quit his job in 2018 and is on a mission to ensure that the people around him get to see the vastness of the night sky beyond the limitations of the pale blue dot. He has telescopes weighing between 80 and 90 kilograms in all the above locations, as he says it is hard to lug around.
“The 2020 pandemic was a tough time as it caused a dent in the tourism industry. A friend asked me to manage his campsite in Kodanad and I was happy to head there. I bought a telescope and would take it along with me to show my friends in the village the sky after dark. By the end of my stint, they could identify when the moon rises and could even tell some planets apart,” he says.
When he began Starvoirs in 2022, he knew that he had to take the effort to showcase the galaxies beyond, in places with little to no light interference. “It is why we choose locations like Mangrove Bay Eco Camp in Chidambaram to organise our camps,” he says. In the past, they have organised book reading events under the night sky and people reading out their favourite quotes. “It is romantic,” he says.
This time around, Bhavanandi says that they will have musical night but also the space for discussion. “This is besides a view of the meteor shower which will peak on August 12, 13 and 14. This year, there will not be any moon interference so the stars will be more visible. It is the ideal time to spot meteors. Imagine fireflies, Siennor’s music and the occasional kayaking lessons by trained professionals at the camp,” he says.
Bhavanandi says that he now works with a team of physics graduates who can explain the names of constellations, their history and how they were formed. All this amidst beautiful landscapes.
If that is not enough of a takeaway, there is always stardust.
This event Perseid meteor shower event is taking place between August 12 and 14 at Mangrove Bay Eco Camp in Chidambaram. Tickets to the event cost ₹5,000 for a night and two days. Contact @starvoirs on their instagram or Bhavanandi at 9677242120.
