My Blackberry had been trying to get my attention with its blinking red LED before it finally went out of power. "There goes my connection to the world!", I remember thinking; and indeed it was true! Without a computer or any sort of internet connection, the phone was my gateway to the world, and suddenly I felt all alone.
No, this isn't something I experienced while travelling through the high reaches of the Himalayas or through the deserts of Sahara. This was experienced in the comfort of my house in the capital of India, when a power grid failure left almost 18 states powerless for about 20 hours in 2 days. Power backups last only so long before they also die out, and for busy professionals (or for pseudo busy student like me!) the hours without power seem daunting!Technology has seeped in so deeply with our lives that we realize its importance only when we do not get access to it. Seemingly easy works became a huge task for me without power and without any gadgets to use; and thus began a series of many "firsts" for me.
For the first time in a very long time, I could see nature in its purest form (or as pure as it can get in polluted Delhi!) The chirping of the birds combined with the gentle drip drop of the rain, produce a music so peaceful that I couldn't help but wonder why hadn't I ever noticed it before. Without the computer,internet or a TV for entertainment, I got once again carried into the charm of reading books, and not the e-books, the actual, paperback versions of novels I loved. The yellowed old pages seemed so familiar and welcoming, like home. As I sat down to write this article on a piece of paper; my fingers missed the strokes on the keyboard and I half expected the red wriggly line to appear every time I wrote a word whose spelling I wasn't too sure of.....yes that is an alarming (or maybe comical?) situation, I realize that!
With all that, this was the first time in months I got to spend some time with only myself for company, and it wasn't so bad! True, power failures like these cause a great inconvenience and chaos in general, but they also give an opportunity for people to spend some "me" time. So, maybe, it isn't all bad !
No, this isn't something I experienced while travelling through the high reaches of the Himalayas or through the deserts of Sahara. This was experienced in the comfort of my house in the capital of India, when a power grid failure left almost 18 states powerless for about 20 hours in 2 days. Power backups last only so long before they also die out, and for busy professionals (or for pseudo busy student like me!) the hours without power seem daunting!Technology has seeped in so deeply with our lives that we realize its importance only when we do not get access to it. Seemingly easy works became a huge task for me without power and without any gadgets to use; and thus began a series of many "firsts" for me.
With all that, this was the first time in months I got to spend some time with only myself for company, and it wasn't so bad! True, power failures like these cause a great inconvenience and chaos in general, but they also give an opportunity for people to spend some "me" time. So, maybe, it isn't all bad !