Besides high screams against power cut, there seem to be quite a few merits to it. Taking into account the power cut schedule (8 a.m. to 10 a.m.; 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in my area in Udhagamandalam (Ooty), I see that the usual morning tension is chilled. For a busy 24X7 mother like me, this is actually favourable.
Earlier, all mornings witnessed blasting TV volume, hot water geyser boiling till 10 a.m. with idle men still in bed, in spite of active school kids getting ready in haste (with my help alone). But, good God, now.....
Everyone is ready before 8 a.m. and off to work before 9.30 a.m. only because all electric and electronic appliances are off! Unusual silence, yet solace!
It's even wonderful during weekends to see children playing out with no cartoon films pulling them in, hot spicy meals getting ready with the traditional ammikal (grindstone in Tamil) masala and the idiot box showing an empty screen!
All these days, the serial episodes had put age-old people in a nutshell, keeping them sick in their sick beds. But now, as worms crawl out of soil for sunshine, they even try to toddle towards the doorstep.
Nature looked different. Though the ‘streetlight learning' system is strange for students preparing for their examinations, the noise of TV from neighbouring houses has stopped.
Sleeping books from idle shelves are dusted and borrowed for reference, ignoring the trendy Internet hard copy, school projects, photo albums that once peeped sadly now jump happily on laps, browsing centres are cleaned, library membership cards are renewed, water is drunk cool from earthen pots, the natural buttermilk is back as the healthiest dessert, the pedalling sewing machine back in action, remote controls are free from sweaty palms, stubborn fingers that held fast to computer keyboards and mouse are now touching the neglected pens and papers, clothes hand-washed or dhobis well paid for stiff and starchy iron, recorded mantras and loudspeakers in temples giving place to traditional instrument play, hard-fans giving exercise to wrists that were stiffened with mobile phones, calls made or answered on landline phones, food neither stored in refrigerators nor re-heated in ovens, but freshly made and immediately consumed, and what not!
I do understand that compared to large-scale industries (that survive with generators), small industries are affected owing to long hours of power cut, but in an even smaller ‘industry' like a home where women handle any situation with or without electricity.
I could see more on only the positive side-effects of power shutdown. Television is one big necessary evil that has put all mouths shut but kept only eyes and ears open.
Power cut has many positive psychological results for children, women and senior citizens. Children play with ‘real' friends outdoor, forgetting ‘virtual' ones; women try out something new with their talents during leisure (TV) hours; senior citizens spend time with nature or their grandchildren.
Of course, men are not exceptional. Now, they could see their wives' faces better than before or ‘sacrifice' the time they spend with TV laptops or mobile, now for their family members. The indoor playground named ‘computer' can now rest for a while, when people can shout, scream and play active in the open air. Where have all these energies gone till now? Why have we let the child in us die? Was it all because of these electrical and electronic appliances? Shocking!
( sangley4@gmail.com)
Keywords: power cut, Tamil Nadu power crisis, life without electricity
Virtual world of Net & TV is destroying communication within
families. Power cuts in homes for few hours may be blessing in
disguise for many people i.e. to save some time from TV/virtual world
and be able t0 connect with real world.
What next? An article on the beneits of Cholera, you know, like not having to entertain unwelcome visitors and finding unconventional uses for Newspaper?
Exactly! was the word that came to my mind after reading this article.
Its good to have power all the time but, doesn't hurt to look at other
things than Television for a while. In the busy life we live, the
little time that is left besides work is exhausted gazing into
computer screens and television sets. A few hours of power cut gives a
few hours of relief from constant sound of the speedy fan and
sometimes distant roaring loud speakers. Self imposed restrictions
work very few times, So yes power cut for few hours is good except it
is frustrating when you are upto something important!
I am in agreement to the article. People should be more optimistic and realize the positive sides of the power cuts as well. Power cuts are not unbearable. A thought about the poor who always live without power, or the labourers who work in the hot sun all day will lessen the thought of misery. It is not doubtful that it also brings people closer, making them spend some time away from the electronic gadgets that increasingly consume people's lives all day.
awesome.The glass is always half full not the other way round.
It will be avery beneficial if every family adopts a voluntary cut in power consumption
at least for an hour or two every day. Apart from saving in electricity consumption
this will give enough time for all members in the family to interact with one another
which is totally lacking since the days TV came to occupy a prominent place in
every family. It has become more or less an addiction which, if not checked in time,
will have an adverse effect on everyone, particularly the younger generation, in the
long run. The elders should be prepared to make some sacrifice for the sake of
their children.
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