Here comes the Sun – The Hindu

Story so far: Hanuman meets Jambavan in the Kishkindha forest and learns why his mentor’s palace complex has such a curious design. But, before he can satisfy his curiosity about the mysterious structure at the centre of the design, Jambavan disappears.

In the dense forest, Hanuman is looking around, as the sunlight trickles in through the foliage.

Hanuman: Acharya Jambavan! You promised to tell me about the artificial sun. You can’t just vanish.

Only the sound of crickets breaks the silence.

Hanuman (grins): Oh! A game of hide and seek? Challenge accepted. A giant bear should be easy to spot.

He zips around the bushes and peers behind a waterfall but cannot see his mentor.

Hanuman: Hmmm. You are good. You blend perfectly into the shadows. Time for a perspective shift.

Hanuman rockets upward and hovers at a height of 200m. The forest below him looks like a green carpet as he searches it.

Hanuman: Let’s see… all green… Aha! A fuzzy black boulder moving near the river.

Jambavan is tiptoeing towards a fruit tree when — thud! — Hanuman suddenly lands right in front of him, arms crossed, smiling triumphantly.

Jambavan (jumps back): By the stars! You nearly gave me a heart attack, little monkey.

Hanuman (laughs): Caught you! I used the bird’s-eye view. Physics helps in hide and seek too. But why did you run?

Jambavan (chuckles): Learning should be a game too. If I just lectured you, you’d fall asleep. Tell me, did you notice the path I took?

Hanuman: I saw you weaving through the banyan grove.

Jambavan: I ran past 365 trees exactly to get here. Do you know why?

Hanuman thinks; the number rings a bell.

Hanuman: That’s the number of days in a year.

Jambavan: Correct! It represents the time Earth takes to complete one full revolution around the Sun. I made you chase me for a “year” just to catch me!

Hanuman (giggles): You act silly but there’s always a lesson. Now that I caught you, pay up! What’s the secret of the artificial sun in your palace. How did you build a star inside a room?

Jambavan sits on a large rock, his expression turning serious but fascinated.

Jambavan: I looked into the future. Many yugas from now, humans in a land called China will build a machine, a Tokamak, and call it HL-2M or artificial sun. This will mimic the real Sun, which burns because of nuclear fusion. It takes tiny atoms — hydrogen — and squashes them so hard that they become helium. This releases massive energy. In the future, scientists will use powerful magnets to squeeze gas until it becomes plasma; hotter than the real Sun! That is how I power my palace. Clean energy. No smoke. Just the power of the stars.

Hanuman: That is… explosive!

Suddenly, they hear sounds of chants from near the river. A group of people are standing waist-deep in water, offering water to the Sun.

Hanuman: Why are they praying to the Sun today? Is there some significance to the time?

Jambavan leans on his staff and smiles.

Jambavan: Today is not a random date. It is a celestial checkpoint; an astronomical event called Makara Sankaranti.

Hanuman: Wait! Makara means crocodile.

Jambavan: Makara refers to the constellation Capricorn. Imagine the sky being divided into 12 houses: the zodiac signs. Today, the Sun travels from Sagittarius (Dhanus) to Capricorn (Makara).

Hanuman: The Sun moves houses?

Jambavan: From our perspective on Earth, yes! But there’s more. For the last six months, the Sun has been travelling towards the south. So, the days were short and the nights long. It was also cold.

Hanuman (shivers dramatically): Tell me about it. My tail was freezing this morning.

Jambavan: But today marks the start of Uttarayan or the Sun’s journey towards the North.

He draws a circle in the sand and line through it to represent the Earth and the Axis.

Jambavan: The Earth is tilted so, starting now, the Northern Hemisphere will receive more direct sunlight. Days will get longer and nights shorter.

Hanuman: So, it’s like …. The Earth waking up a long winter nap.

Jambavan: Exactly! Can you think what else this will impact?

Hanuman (watching the villagers): Food?

Jambavan: Correct. Plants are solar-powered factories. This is also a harvest festival with farmers celebrating the gathering of winter crops such as rice, sugarcane and pulses.

Hanuman: Look! They have til-gud laddoos (sesame-jaggery balls).

Jambavan:Til is full of healthy fats and jaggery gives instant energy. In the cold season, this keeps us warm.

Hanuman: I never knew that a festival had so much behind it. Hiding behind 365 trees, building artificial suns, explaining festivals … you are the coolest bear ever.

Jambavan: Right now, I am the hungriest bear. Talking about harvests and sweets reminds me that I haven’t had lunch.

Hanuman (grabs his hand): Come on: I know where the best sugarcane grows.

They run towards the fields, laughing, under the golden sun.

The author is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras IC graduated ed-tech company, and a Ph.D. research scholar in Education at NITTTR.

Here is a step-by-step pictorial guide on how the HL-2M Artificial Sun generates energy using nuclear fusion.

Step 1: Create a tiny sun

Step 2: Squeeze the sun with magnets

Step 3: Fusion reaction takes place

Step 4: Make electricity

Published – January 16, 2026 10:30 am IST