Attitude matters.

Of late, the power situation in our city is a big mess. In fact, this morning it was news to us when we saw the newspaper – that the BESCOM has plans to increase the 4 hour power cut to 7 hours. That really is amazing, because we already have at least 8 hour-powercuts – and all unscheduled, which is really very disgusting when we depend so much on electricity for several things.

I mean, candlelight is romantic – but one cant be romantic all the time! Living on love and fresh air is good for fantasies – but when it comes to bread and butter, its a different flavor altogether. 😀

I’ve become a bit of a maniac these days, maximizing those few hours when there is electricity, and preparing all the things I need. In fact, we were two days into the power cut thingy and being a freelance writer, I went berserk about my deadlines. Why, my happy 2-hour UPS doesn’t get enough time to charge itself for the next powerless stint! So I am alternating between my laptop, from which i can get a decent hour and a half and my desktop computer, to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

Well, we’ve also had to shift our priorities, pushing back bath-time to when the water is fairly warm so that we don’t need hot water; cooking stuff that doesn’t need a mixer-grinder in prep; heating stuff in the microwave when there’s power and conserving it in a hotpack, so that we don’t have to compromise on food temperature (my folks prefer to have their food hot, you see); not using the lift for fear of getting stuck in it in the event of a power cut en route…and so on. My son finishes school work when there’s daylight so that he can avoid candlelight/emergency lamp slogging.

But the best part of all this, is that – with these massive power cuts, it isn’t as if we’ll see a reduction in our electricity bill. I really don’t know how they do it! Someone once told me that they just go sit at a chai-shop and fill in the details based on previous usage. 😀

Well – what can I say? I get to catch up on my reading – which is nice
I get to clear up all those off-line chores that keep getting put off – which is great
I spend more quality time with my folks – which is wonderful

I guess it all boils down to how we look at the situation and make the best of it.
It’s time to walk the talk.