When less was more.... Load Shedding and those beautiful summer evenings!!

Yesterday evening, there was a power cut in my area due to heavy rains in Bangalore. We were sitting around together to make our inverter last longer. My sons asked me how did I spent my time during power-cuts in my childhood? This question took me back some 40 years to a small town in Northern India, during those harsh summers when we called these power cuts- load shedding !!

In my childhood, power cuts in the evening were more or less a regular phenomenon. We had strategically placed candles and oil lamps for visibility that was lit up in record time. For entertainment, we gathered either in our Drawing room or if the mosquitoes permitted, we moved onto the rooftops that had ample seating arrangement to leisurely gaze at the stars and the sky with our elders showing us the “North Star”, the various Star Constellations (some real some imaginary) and regaling us with their inexhaustible collection of stories.

?Memory is a strange thing. It clings on to the important aspects, the essentials, providing us with a perspective, we can seldom have during the event. I am sure, everyone longed for the fans and the coolers in the great northern summer at its peak or for the warmth of heaters and blowers in equally harsh winters of northern India. Strangely, I do not remember the discomfort and complaints. All I can recall are the stories and an opportunity to bond with one another. To get to know a person intimately by listening to the stories they told.

?

I will narrate some of the stories I remember.

?

I

My grandfather was a learned man. He was retired from business and spent most of his time reading and writing. He had been the President of the Cantonment Board and also the Rotary Club of Danapur after his father. He was a great public orator and was also trying to translate “The Valmiki Ramayana” in English, the way it was written - an ambitious and nearly impossible project that never got completed. But the quest and the research left him wiser and turned him into an enthralling storyteller for he met the first and the most important rule of telling a story i.e “You can tell a story only when you know some”.

?

This is one of the stories that was told and retold by him.

?

There was a merchant who along with his young son, set out for the market to sell his wares. On the way, they saw a vendor selling exotic birds. The son enquired the price and was told one bird for an Anna (4 paisa-In ancient India 16 annas made a rupee. A rupee had 64 paisas). It seemed quite reasonable to the son so he implored his father to buy him the bird. The father refused by saying that the price was exorbitant. And they went their way.

?

The father and the son experienced a windfall during the day selling everything they carried for a good profit. They headed home. On their way back, they encountered the same merchant selling exotic birds. Once again, the son requested his father to buy him the bird. The father agreed and they went to the merchant. The father asked as to how much the birds were. The merchant replied 4 annas for a bird. The son was devastated. He could not believe his ears. The birds selling for 1 anna in the morning were now priced at 4 annas. The father heard the price and replied calmly “ okay, give us 4 birds !!”

?

Moral of the story: When you do not have money, everything is expensive and when you have lots of it, everything appears cheap.

In addition to this story, he also gave us tips when not to invest in risky propositions. He said you should not invest in such propositions under two conditions; one when you do not have surplus money and the other when you have surplus money !!

?

These and other were an important lesson in Finance doled out by a seasoned businessman and a fun-loving grandfather. One of the best lessons and advice in managing Finance, I ever had!!

?

II

?

Another outcome of those evenings when we gathered.

?

When I was preparing for my interview in the early part of my career, my grandfather used to help me with advice. As a part of self-introduction, he asked me to begin the introduction by saying that “I am a person who believes in the power of Good and that of God”.

?

And I did use this line in all my initial actual and mock interviews. Over the years, the line has stayed with me morphing into my core belief. So much so that if I am stripped of all my beliefs, the only one I will be left with would be “the power of Good and that of God”.

?

This is how elderly people used to handover their inheritance, that lives on long after they are gone !!

?

III

?

My father brought variety to the table with his narratives on those dark nights. His stories were witty, funny, serious, thought-provoking, educational, imaginative, and some more. Irrespective of the genre, all of them very supremely engaging. He was a mesmerizing storyteller. He also excelled in dry humour and could tell a joke with a straight face. We were so taken by his style that over a period, I and my brother picked that up and could talk in that fashion for a long time, till it was too much to handle and one of us erupted with mirth, followed by the other. We laughed for a long time, revisiting the absurdities. I still occasionally follow the act with my younger brother, when we meet and if someone happens to be around, they get confused and come back to us with “You are joking…right?” Sometimes we laugh and let it out. Sometimes we pretend not to understand ask them “do we look as if we are joking?” and drag it a bit longer

?

Back to those nights and one of my father's stories, I still remember...

?

A car broke down in front of a mental hospital late at night. It was a punctured tyre. The driver got down, unscrewed all the bolts, and removed the punctured tyre. In his haste to put the spare tyre on, he kicked the bolts into the adjoining gutter. The driver was exasperated by the event and could not think about how to fix the tyre without the bolts. All the stores and the Tyre shops were closed at this time. He was stuck.

?

There was an inmate of the mental institute observing the entire affair. When he saw the driver gazing constantly into the gutter, he offered a solution and asked him to take out a bolt from each of the three remaining wheels and fix the tyre with their help. Three bolts should be good enough to take him to his destination and keep the car running till the necessary replacements. The driver did just that, and the car was ready to hit the road again.

?

The driver asked the inmate: “How come you came out with this brilliant solution despite being Crazy?” to which the inmate replied: “You see, I am crazy. Not stupid”.

?

I found this narrative profound. Not only a difficult problem was logically solved with ease, the wit, in the end, was a masterstroke. If I have to present an analogy to the people of today’s generation, this anecdote to me, was akin to the movie Inception’s “dream inside the dream” feat.

?

Well, I can keep on going with the stories and the people. The idea here is not an incident or story. We had beautiful time during the evenings when load shedding was a part and parcel of our lives. Our elders regaled us with stories. This was a perfect example of how adversity (for “Load shedding” in absence of generator etc. was an adversity in the harsh northern summer) ??can be turned into an opportunity. With a relaxed mind and the right people around, load shedding was an occasion to connect, learn, and spend time with family members.

Reflections:

?

?How and when are children of today interacting with their elders on a regular basis? Who is passing on the values and sharing their experiences with the kids?

?

For me and the people of my generation, the load shedding was a regular social event when we bonded with our siblings and other family members…This was a time when less was more !!