Blame it on the electricity
It made us realise about various aspects we take for granted in life. Imagine the days when there was no electricity. People still lived and worked in those conditions. Maybe some will say it was cooler then and others might say the buildings were made in such a way that it was easy to live
Published: 03:09 PM,Sep 05,2022 | EDITED : 07:09 PM,Sep 05,2022
It was lunch break during an important conference and it just became dark. Soon it became a candlelit lunch. There was laughter and no one really bothered because it was still bearable and had a faint hint that the building would have generator.
The generator was switched on and the screens were back to life; now came the next worry. It was beginning to get sultry. Rushed to the power point to charge the phone and that is when we realised how much we should appreciate the power called electricity.
Being at a resort for a conference has its advantages, I thought and rushed to the seaside, but in vain as the sea breeze is still and stirring the sea to churn out gentlest of waves now and then when the wind thought of moving.
This situation led the way back to the hall and by now no one wanted to drink a coffee - now this is the land of kahwa and you don’t feel a dessert session is complete unless it is topped with a few sips of kahwa.
‘Not in a situation like this,’ pointed out a colleague.
Walked up to the lift and almost pressed it before it dawned on me how foolish it would’ve been. Soon the mobile data and wifi began to act out of sync. WhatsApp messages stopped coming in just when people were beginning to share a variety of self proclaimed confessions when that too seemed to act strange due to impact on wifi and mobile data.
Disruptions are inevitable and has bigger impact when least expected.
The reality is many people got stuck on elevators and others felt the pain of leaving any floor above the fourth. It was a question of few hours, but the discomfort was felt by all. Schools also felt the impact.
It made us realise about various aspects we take for granted in life. Imagine the days when there was no electricity. People still lived and worked in those conditions. Maybe some will say it was cooler then and others might say the buildings were made in such a way that it was easy to live. Sarooj was the material that was used then and now we have concrete and cement. They generate heat on their own and not to air conditioning that makes it warmer outside.
Can we say people then were more resilient? Of course one aspect is that we are a generation that seems to be at the edge with anxiety and curiosity because when the electricity did announce it’s come back with the hum of the ceiling fan, which was a relief, the question did pop in the mind for many - what could have caused it?
Does it matter?
Electricity is back and air is cooler and so are we. Meanwhile we can practice gratitude and understand the whole process of getting the energy into the households, offices, resorts and not to forget hospitals.
Resorts didn’t feel that fancy without electricity and thoughts went to in-patients in hospitals. At the same time thoughts also went out to everyone who works in the sector which we take as our basic right.
Just a few hours of power cut created havoc on the roads as traffic lights stopped functioning and cars were jammed or was it because people preferred to stay behind the wheels than indoors? Within minutes the Royal Oman Police was manning the traffic under the midday sun.
A crisis brings out the worst and best in us. But it definitely gave us an opportunity to appreciate others and what we have. At the table, the staff came and kept candle like lamps. All we had to do was imagine it was for us to relax.
The generator was switched on and the screens were back to life; now came the next worry. It was beginning to get sultry. Rushed to the power point to charge the phone and that is when we realised how much we should appreciate the power called electricity.
Being at a resort for a conference has its advantages, I thought and rushed to the seaside, but in vain as the sea breeze is still and stirring the sea to churn out gentlest of waves now and then when the wind thought of moving.
This situation led the way back to the hall and by now no one wanted to drink a coffee - now this is the land of kahwa and you don’t feel a dessert session is complete unless it is topped with a few sips of kahwa.
‘Not in a situation like this,’ pointed out a colleague.
Walked up to the lift and almost pressed it before it dawned on me how foolish it would’ve been. Soon the mobile data and wifi began to act out of sync. WhatsApp messages stopped coming in just when people were beginning to share a variety of self proclaimed confessions when that too seemed to act strange due to impact on wifi and mobile data.
Disruptions are inevitable and has bigger impact when least expected.
The reality is many people got stuck on elevators and others felt the pain of leaving any floor above the fourth. It was a question of few hours, but the discomfort was felt by all. Schools also felt the impact.
It made us realise about various aspects we take for granted in life. Imagine the days when there was no electricity. People still lived and worked in those conditions. Maybe some will say it was cooler then and others might say the buildings were made in such a way that it was easy to live. Sarooj was the material that was used then and now we have concrete and cement. They generate heat on their own and not to air conditioning that makes it warmer outside.
Can we say people then were more resilient? Of course one aspect is that we are a generation that seems to be at the edge with anxiety and curiosity because when the electricity did announce it’s come back with the hum of the ceiling fan, which was a relief, the question did pop in the mind for many - what could have caused it?
Does it matter?
Electricity is back and air is cooler and so are we. Meanwhile we can practice gratitude and understand the whole process of getting the energy into the households, offices, resorts and not to forget hospitals.
Resorts didn’t feel that fancy without electricity and thoughts went to in-patients in hospitals. At the same time thoughts also went out to everyone who works in the sector which we take as our basic right.
Just a few hours of power cut created havoc on the roads as traffic lights stopped functioning and cars were jammed or was it because people preferred to stay behind the wheels than indoors? Within minutes the Royal Oman Police was manning the traffic under the midday sun.
A crisis brings out the worst and best in us. But it definitely gave us an opportunity to appreciate others and what we have. At the table, the staff came and kept candle like lamps. All we had to do was imagine it was for us to relax.