There is always noise around when there is power available. Noise that is identifiable yet not connecting enough. The noise that is constantly emanating from the box hung in the lobby (television), the box that has slid between the pillows (mobile), the box that clicks after a while (refrigerator), etc. and then there is noise and more noise emanating from nowhere.
And lo suddenly the power goes. It is silent. But it makes you listen to the sounds that are not identifiable yet more connecting. The ones of chit-chatter between the people in the neighborhood, the loud calls from the vendor on the streets, the bhakti-sangeet at some temple a little far from your house. All these sounds that were easily audible 10 years back are shrouded now in the sound of “mysterious development”. Development that was supposed to be more meaningful is somehow retreating us into isolation. It makes us feel that we are more ‘connected’ than before but I see we have never been too disconnected than now.
It takes me back to late 1990s when the power scenario in J&K was pathetic. There used to be more than 12hr power-cut a day. With all the means available all we could afford at that time was to go a temple and spend that time as there was no inverter at home and everytime the power goes you couldn’t go to the restaurant. Thanks that we had a car which could fit in our family of four.
I visited so many temples during those 2-3 years, met so many people physically (and not on some social media site), made friends in the real world and not virtually. Today when Bangalore is going through the power crisis and power goes little too often than before, I suddenly see people coming outside their “comfort zones” of the virtual world and start conversing with people who stay a floor below and above theirs’.
This makes me so glad to just think and realise that the spark is not gone yet and we are still capable of igniting the conversations with strangers. There are still vendors on the street (the kabuliwallahs of today) and there are still bhakti-sangeet being played in the nearby temple. Thunder and lightning still have that lag and I can predict when I will be able to hear the sound. The sound of rain is amazing still. The concrete blocks though add some block yet it is better than the block erected by the world of closet fueled by the power supply.
After the power cuts, I guess telcos should start disconnecting data packs for 3 hrs a day. Trust me we will have more reliable connections in the real world rather than 1000+ namesake connections in the virtual world. We will be a MORE CONNECTED world then, may be!