Sunday is always good. Its great in fact. Every time. Why? Because of its sheer ability to make everyone happy and to allow me endless hours of rest and T.V. Although I work from home as a writer (and have been since June 2012), I take a break on Sundays. I refuse to switch my laptop on and use my brain.
This last Sunday though, ended with a grim frown. As I slowly drifted into a deep sleep I was suddenly and rudely awakened by the horrible warmth of the humid night. Electricity had gone. Since I am married to an army officer, we move to new houses and cities and sometimes villages. Our present home lies in a quaint cantonment in one of Uttar Pradesh's biggest cities - Kanpur. But, Kanpur like the rest of UP lags behind in its commitment to empower people with electricity - ALL THE TIME.
I am not used to a life without electricity. In fact, when my army husband and I moved to Kanpur in June of this year, the intense humidity made us crave an air conditioner. We almost came close to buying one. And then realized that the water here is so impure that we ended up buying a water purifier first. Although the search for a good air conditioner continues, without electricity what good is that?
So that night, amid the intense heat we managed to get some rest. My little 2 year old dog was immensely uncomfortable. But she managed to sleep it out too. Come morning, we all hoped that the electricity would come back. But I think the electricity was content in playing a game of hide and seek with us.
Monday morning blues turned to greys when the lights, fans, fridge and everything that needed power slept. Since I couldn't switch the laptop nor connect to the net without electricity, (I have a BSNL modem line that's why) I slept like the rest of my electronic gadgets too. In the heat. The hot hot heat. With a napkin to wipe it off every minute.
Alas at around 4 pm on Monday evening the lights finally blinked and came alive. Oh, how that made my heart leap with joy! I quickly turned on my computer and got to work. Electricity.
Just as Monday soon ended, the electricity showed signs of staying. So when it was time to sleep, I filled the cooler with lots of cold water and got ready for a night of cool air and rest.
Come Tuesday morning, the story repeated itself. Everything was off. And it stayed off. Till tonight. Till this moment. I sweated in the heat with no computer, no TV, no way to finish my online writing work for the day, no fan, no nothing. Amid the candle light and thoughts of ghosts I realized how important electricity was to me.
It was such a relief to see the lights blink, to feel the fan move, to go online, to chat, to charge my phone that I now realize - electricity is my new best friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment