A few weeks ago, we had a prayer at my house. Because I live here, I had to sit right near the front. I couldn't really move around much because it would be considered disrespectful, so I just sat quietly and listened.
The room was filled with the smell of incense and the sounds of my family gathering together.
Right in front of me, sitting on a red cloth next to some flowers and statues, was a small silver bowl filled with sand. Stuck into the sand were these tiny little flags, and every single flag was a different colour. I was staring at them, wondering what they were doing in the middle of our living room.
Even though I don't really understand Sanskrit, just paying close attention made me notice a truly amazing pattern. The priest and my dad talked about the words, and I realised the chant was actually naming the planets.
Each little coloured flag in the sand actually represented a different planet.
I was so surprised. Usually, you only see planets in boring science textbooks at school. In class, we learn facts about how NASA is doing its best to explore Mars, or how the Earth's gravity interacts with the Moon to keep our oceans and climate stable.
But as I sat on the floor listening to the chanting, I found out that this Hindu prayer goes back 3,000 years. Long before anyone had telescopes or modern technology, people were already observing the sky and nature so carefully. They already knew about the universe and understood that every celestial body had an important role to play.
It made me think quietly about how we understand the universe. Science and religion are almost always treated like completely different things, but sitting there, I felt like they were connected. Science is all about exploring the world and understanding how it works, while this ancient religion is simply about thanking the world for how perfectly balanced it is.
They aren't opposites; they are just two different ways of appreciating the exact same universe.
I always thought of the solar system as just rocks and gas floating in space. But hearing that 3,000-year-old chant in my living room changed the way I see the planets forever.
The next time I look up at the night sky here in Mauritius, I won't just be looking at science, I'll be looking at history, wonder, and a very old "thank you."