pregnant pause as the demons of rahu and ketu suck the life out of surya as per hindu mythology during the solar eclipse on wednesday morning city gynaecologists plan to put their feet up no one wants to give birth during the eclipse i dont have a single case on wednesday its like a midweek holiday says dr anahita pandole who is based at kemps cornersome patients who have already given birth are staying on in the hospital longer because they dont want to be discharged during the eclipse dr anita soni gynaecologist at dr l h hiranandani hospital told toi on tuesday when dr soni tried to knock some sense into her patients head by telling them that there was no scientific basis to these superstitions she was in a for a rude shock i got a polite sms from one of them informing me that she had opted to go in for surgery somewhere else she says they are so convinced that arguing with them ended up making me wonder if im right she laughsfaith eclipsed hindu priests across the city advised people to stay indoors during the eclipse avoid leaving your house in the inauspicious period said wadalas pandit yashwant joshi on tuesday some temples in the city were planning to halt operations during the eclipse even a brahmin should not touch the deity in the temple during an eclipse one shouldnt eat or drink either because the food is contaminated said pandit yogesh joshi of mahalaxmi temple the temple was closed from 6 pm on tuesday to 730 am on wednesday on the other hand the siddhivinayak temple invited all its devotees to chant during the eclipse an eclipse is inauspicious and it is times like these when people find refuge in god everybody is welcome to sit and chant in the temple while the poojari offers pooja to the deity while the eclipse lasts said nitin kadam a trustee of the temple muslims also have a set of rituals during an eclipse we offer prayers called salahtut qusuf where we offer reverence to almighty who has the power to take away light from the sun we also offer sadqa charity and recite our prayers said model afzal chougle early to rise on tuesday mumbais youngsters were all set to observe the eclipse even if it meant waking up at an ungodly hour and travelling many extra miles my friends and i will watch the eclipse from either dahanu or belapur from where visibility should be good said 20yearold kabir tombat twenty xavieriites were taken around harda itarasi and bhimbetka in madhya pradesh by their physics professors we will record the temperature humidity and pressure during various stages of the eclipse and also take pictures professor rajesh singh told toisky high the eclipse hour also peak time for domestic flight departureson tuesday recorded the same number of bookings from travellers there hasnt been any fluctuation in flight bookings due to the eclipse said rajesh rateria md