Next time you think of cursing the CESC for the incessant load sheddings that we enjoy in our 'City of Joy'... please! please! Do spare some thought for the poor ol' power guys because there's very little that they can come up with to improve the situation. I don't need to break to you all that powercut is a nuisance yet often necessary and almost unanimously percieved as evil (except for blokes like me who revel in those hours of imposed darkness, catering to the instinctive compulsions of my nocturnal alter ego; and yes! you may even find me hanging upside down from the ceiling provided you happen to visit me during a powercut; let me also make it clear that i try not switch on emergency light, inverters, light candles or hurricanes unless, of course, absolutely necessary) The CESC has completely lost the plot, now that the average Kolkatan, wielding the new found purchasing power, prefer air-conditioned comfort over sweating humbly (very soon non A/C households will become a part of 'The Great Bengali Nostalgia')...Even CESC attributes this power shortage to the 300% additional power consumption on an average per consumer thanks to the cost effective A/Cs that have flooded the market targeting the middle class folks. Not that I have anything against the common man enjoying the fruits of consumerism, I hail from the middle class myself, it is the disregard for pragmatic ideals/ rational needs and wants which strangely (given my "like i damn care..." demeanour) baffles me... Enough said!
......Now then...What is it that i like about load sheddings???
To begin with, its sheer predictibility...my sixth sense sends out alerts prior to a PC ( i.e. PowerCut...it aint personal compu or P.Chidambaram)...Thankfully,CESC prefers to stick to a timetable for PCs which BTW is based on the load/consumption pattern over a 24 hour duration. Now where was i??? .....Umm,yes...PC augurs a respite from my mom's silly soaps on Star Jalsa, Pepsi's dumb ads feat. Ranbir and Baba, Tharoor & Modi's IPL drama etc. etc.
If there's an exam round the corner, you get those precious few hours to relax and compose yourself...PCs are a boon in summers...you sweat like a glass of cold water... Sweating as we know helps keep our skin clean, keeps sodium level in check for high BP patients, reduces fat deposits, creates sweat stains on your clothes for you to apply surf excel on, fosters body odour so that you get the excuse of emptying out that can of deo on your body and yada yada yada...Is that all?? Nope, there's a lot more to PC ...Did you notice the streets fall silent as soon as load shedding happens? as if someone simply hit the mute buttton... if the skies are clear, you may rediscover Mr.Moon's splendor and savour the world around you basking in his mild yet invigorating moonlight, gazing at the star studded sky normally cloaked by the city lights, the faint glow of radium on the needles of your watch, fireflies and glow worms prancing about .................To say that "without electricity, life's a drag" is so wrong.... Just pull the plug and watch those hidden facets of the shady parallel world unveil themselves.
