Gone are the days when we used to sit hours in front of the television enjoying the feeling of being a couch potato. I was travelling to my home town recently for a long week end. I reached my place by 5 am, hired an auto and enjoyed the chill air that is pure and pollution free and is only available early in the morning. I could see the place was immersed in total darkness despite the Summer climate. I had tried to explore the reason but couldn't understand what was going on around me until I reached my home.
I went inside my house at 5:45 am and could find a dim candle light at one end of the floor. I could sense the smell of burnt mosquito coils that almost gave me a suffocation. I was told that there was a routine power cut more frequently and everyone in the state have already learnt to live with the schedule. The power cut prevailed from 5-6 am in the morning and i was desperately waiting for 6 am. More shocking it was when I had learnt that the power cut schedule was torturing people especially during the nights. For every hour we had power, the consecutive hour would be a deprived of it. I liked the way people were socializing amidst the crisis, managing the household chores within the available time slot following a strict schedule. I personally see people in my house chatting for hours together, smiling and spending time with each other that took us off the mechanical life.
This is the scene of the existing power shortages throughout Tamil Nadu in India, the capital city Chennai is no exception with a power cut for a maximum of 2 hours. Two hours is not a big deal when compared to the other places in the state however with the schedule between 8 to 10 am, imagine 3 people sharing the room rushing to office juggling with the turns. I was experiencing this hectic schedule for the past 30 days. The other side of the coin: I was always early to the office, what would some one do if there is no power when they sleep over time. We wanted to avoid a situation where we are left with no water being in the second floor of the flat, could not imagine us carrying water in the buckets and taking it all the way upstairs (did I say that we have experienced this situation before and the trauma still exists LOL)
On the other hand, my Office was left with no other choice than to ask people for suggestion to tackle the power shortages that have become a prime problem in the state. Out of all suggestions, few were picked and implemented, the office timings were revised as 8am - 5 pm instead of the standard 9am - 6pm model. Gyms in the main locations are closed until further notice. Fans, lights and Television in the Cafetaria are being operated only duing the lunch timings. People everywhere are trying ways to save power as much as they can. This is the situation of a normal office-goer in everyday life. The worst part is where people do small scale business amidst the power deprivation.
We, people of our state are waiting in hope for the crisis to be over. Even if the situation is going to be normal, people will definitely miss the new life that they have had during the crisis where they have adapted to time management becoming social animals and still manage to live a peaceful life. I still wonder, are we travelling backwards in time when people had no luxuries as in our age but still had a healthy, peaceful and inventive days.
I went inside my house at 5:45 am and could find a dim candle light at one end of the floor. I could sense the smell of burnt mosquito coils that almost gave me a suffocation. I was told that there was a routine power cut more frequently and everyone in the state have already learnt to live with the schedule. The power cut prevailed from 5-6 am in the morning and i was desperately waiting for 6 am. More shocking it was when I had learnt that the power cut schedule was torturing people especially during the nights. For every hour we had power, the consecutive hour would be a deprived of it. I liked the way people were socializing amidst the crisis, managing the household chores within the available time slot following a strict schedule. I personally see people in my house chatting for hours together, smiling and spending time with each other that took us off the mechanical life.
This is the scene of the existing power shortages throughout Tamil Nadu in India, the capital city Chennai is no exception with a power cut for a maximum of 2 hours. Two hours is not a big deal when compared to the other places in the state however with the schedule between 8 to 10 am, imagine 3 people sharing the room rushing to office juggling with the turns. I was experiencing this hectic schedule for the past 30 days. The other side of the coin: I was always early to the office, what would some one do if there is no power when they sleep over time. We wanted to avoid a situation where we are left with no water being in the second floor of the flat, could not imagine us carrying water in the buckets and taking it all the way upstairs (did I say that we have experienced this situation before and the trauma still exists LOL)
On the other hand, my Office was left with no other choice than to ask people for suggestion to tackle the power shortages that have become a prime problem in the state. Out of all suggestions, few were picked and implemented, the office timings were revised as 8am - 5 pm instead of the standard 9am - 6pm model. Gyms in the main locations are closed until further notice. Fans, lights and Television in the Cafetaria are being operated only duing the lunch timings. People everywhere are trying ways to save power as much as they can. This is the situation of a normal office-goer in everyday life. The worst part is where people do small scale business amidst the power deprivation.
We, people of our state are waiting in hope for the crisis to be over. Even if the situation is going to be normal, people will definitely miss the new life that they have had during the crisis where they have adapted to time management becoming social animals and still manage to live a peaceful life. I still wonder, are we travelling backwards in time when people had no luxuries as in our age but still had a healthy, peaceful and inventive days.
Oh.. too bad! I blame the bloody state governments - present and past of TamilNadu for all this power shortage and the various shameless politicians! Its far better in the other states. This isn't conservation you know, its shortage and its very sad we have to face this inspite of the hike in the electricity bill charges. Good to see ur post and to learn of stuff that is happening! Cheers!
ReplyDeletePeople aren't lazy now-a-days which isn't bad... we are really scared of Peak Summer due in a month...
ReplyDelete