Last weekend many people in Delhi spent two sleepless nights as there was no current in some areas. Can you imagine having no current to fuel your AC or your humble fan, all through the night and for two nights? And that too in this very hot and very humid weather!!!

Living in such misery would drive anyone to madness. Of course all Delhiites have inverters to tide over such a time. But on an average, the inverter will not last for more than 3-4 hours. What after that??? And if you are used to air conditioning, youve really had it! The inverter will only run a couple of fans and tube lights in your house. And of course, as the number of appliances switched on goes up, the duration that the charge will last comes down. So if the current goes off for the whole day/whole night, inverters are just a piece of crap sitting in your house.

This brings us to Generators. In Punjab, even though generators are banned in residential areas, you will find one in almost every house. The condition of the state electricity board is such that having a generator is a necessity now. So why should we think of the consequences for the environment etc? Why should we not just go ahead and get generators installed? Dont we have the right to live comfortably? If the government is so concerned about environmental issues, why dont they provide us with basic amenities of life?

Is it too much to ask for an uninterrupted power supply? Dont we pay our taxes? Dont we deserve to get a proper nights sleep? This is a debate that is fuelled by the poor junta on one side (who spend sleepless nights in the summer months) and the government officials on the other side (who would not spend an hour without the AC switched on in their homes) The government needs to do something about this no-current situation in Delhi and other parts of the country. Otherwise, people will have no choice but to flout the laws and take action on their own.