Blackout Bliss

Unplanned power failures fuel unforgettable memories.

As a child, unexpected power failures equated to fun. Those were the times when inverters and mobile phones didn’t find a place in every household.

If power outages happened on a holiday, during the daytime, every child in the community would get out on the streets to play, away from the television, unmindful about the scorching heat. Suppose it happens during the night, it would be playtime again – hide and seek in all nooks and corners of the streets, unmindful about the fear-monsters in the dark. Such nights commonly end with a moonlit community dinner.

Even if such lengthy blackouts happen on a school-going day, they turned out to be fun. Students get excused from their homework burden owing to power failures on the previous night. Suppose it happened during the day, the entire class would start to mutter about the discomfort of sweat and as a result, classes would be suspended in case the teacher is kind enough.