By: Indira SatyanarayanWhen I complain to God that I have no shoes, I do not look down at people who have no feet.
In life, we take many things for granted. It is only when we stop having these things that we realize their true value and how much we need them to make life easy for us. It was a hot summer Sunday morning in May. Everyone was at home when, without warning, the electricity went out in my housing society. The residents in my building were privileged as we enjoyed uninterrupted electricity. Only on very rare occasions would we have a very short power cut. This led to complacency. And when we were without power for six hours, life turned topsy-turvy for me.
The chaos started early morning with the maid knocking on our door incessantly. She was angry because the lift had stopped functioning, and she had to walk up the stairs. 'If the lift fails tomorrow, I will not come to work.' That is her ultimatum. Then she adds that the security guard down told her to finish her work quickly because water could stop any moment. I was worried. 'Why will the water stop?' The maid looks at me coolly and says, 'If there is no electricity in the building, how can the Mama (Security guard) pump the water up to the tanks?' 'Of course,' I say, looking like a fool. She tells me to save water; she will only sweep the floor; she will not mop. 'You can do the mopping later when electricity is restored and water is pumped to the tanks.'
For breakfast, it is plain idli with instant chutney powder from the packet. My son scowls, 'Why no coconut chutney?' 'I cannot use the mixie to grind the coconut chutney,' I tell him. 'When will the electricity come?' he asks. 'I don't know,' I tell him helplessly. I then realize that the water filter is also not working. I call up the grocery store from my mobile and order six bottles of mineral water, hoping that it would suffice until we get back electricity.
The summer heat is catching up by mid-afternoon. With no electricity, there is no fan or air conditioning. Everyone is getting irritated. My husband is grumbling. 'I have to type an important bank document and send it today. How can I do it with the computer not working?' He looks at me annoyed, as if I was responsible for the electricity going out. My son picks up the intercom, 'I am calling Mama-Security guard down to ask when we will get electricity.' He then realizes that the intercom is not working. He sulks. It is May, summer vacation; kids are at home. There is no television. It's too hot to go down and play. They are getting restless and irritable. It is becoming difficult to manage them. I try to fan myself with the newspaper, but there is little respite.
I must have dozed off on the sofa. My son shakes me. 'Mama, electricity has come back.' He looks happy. I am so relieved. The six-hour ordeal without electricity is over. The next day when things normalized, I could not help thinking about how life came to a standstill without electricity for just six hours. So many of us take having electricity for granted. A friend of mine went out of Mumbai for two days. When she returned home, she realized that she had forgotten to switch off the fan when she left home. We don't use electricity judiciously, and when we get high electricity bills, we complain.
It was just a six-hour blackout for me, but it made me think of the people ravaged by the Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine war. People whose houses have been bombed and destroyed. What a torture it must be for them to be without water, without electricity, braving the winter cold out in the open without any heating system to keep them warm. I realized how fortunate I was. The experience humbled me.