Power Woes

11th July 2014. 4 AM.

It is four in the morning now. The power has been gone for four hours already. Thankfully we got a new battery for our inverter, so the fans are still running. Since the last three nights and three days, our entire block had been suffering from frantic voltage fluctuations, making it impossible to run any appliances. After three complaints in three days and continuous follow up, the problem was fixed yesterday morning.

We have been having acute power problems since June this year. Either there have been technical faults or long power cuts. On 20th June, the power went off at 11.30 at night. It was a Friday. Thankfully it was Az's off the next day. Unable to sleep, we all bundled up in the car and a bike and went off to India Gate at 2 a.m. to cool off. The sweepers were working their brooms and there were a few ice cream carts around. There were few other people too. We had ice cream and spent sometime there. Then we came back home at 4 a.m. assuming that the power was back. But we were wrong. Many people were outside their homes and ssveral inverters were giving their death beeps. In the morning we got to know that there had been a major fault and power sould be back by late svening. So we all once again bundled up and went to my siister's place 7 km away for the day. We crammed in her tiny 1BHK home and turned it into a refugee camp. At 11.30 at night, we got to know that power was back. Then we came home and this time packed my sister and brought her with us.

After a week again we didn't have power the entire night, and by dawn we all were in the balcony. This time we called up the power supplier's office to complain. Surprisingly they didn't have any information about the power cut. Power was back in the afternoon. Since then, we have been having power cuts and technical faults regularly.

This is my second summer in Delhi and it's frying me up. Last summer, we didn't witness such power problems. Plus it is Ramadan and with no rains and frustrating power cuts, it is testing times.

Az who leaves for office at 8 in the morning and reaches home about an hour before Iftaar, is not getting complete sleep because of the power problems. Delhi homes which are like closed boxes with no ventilation, are difficult to sleep in without air coolers/conditioners. The rooms become suffocating and hot. And I don't understand why they need to cut power at night when people need to rest. It's better they do away with the power cuts during the day. We all know how difficult it is to get through the day when we don't get sleep the previous night.

I was up for Sehri and preparing to sleep now. I am hoping and waiting patiently for the power to be back. Az is tossing and turning and catching up on some sleep in between. I am just wondering if this is the situation of power in the country's capital, what do we expect in the rest of the country.

11th July 2014. 4 PM.

It is now four in the evening. Still no power. The inverter died after eight hours of service. We got to know in the morning that it is a technical fault and concerned authorities are fixing it. They have been giving updated deadlines for the power to be back since morning. So we don't know for sure. Even without the fan I was able to sleep in fits, as fatigue took over. We just arranged a power generator and the fan is at least running. We are fasting and it's still three hours to go. The situation has become unbearable for the people fasting since an early age and bearing Delhi heat for several years. So you can well imagine my condition. In a short while I shall need to go to the kitchen for the Iftaar preparations.

I reside in the capital of the country and it takes more than 12 hours here to fix a technical power problem. Can you imagine that! Or is it "let it be" attitude of the general public which has made the authorities complacent. Az is in his office but still continuously following up with the linemen. I wonder how many of the block residents are doing that. Meanwhile between dizziness and thirst, I am just praying fervently for our power woes to come to an end.

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