And I so spent an evening by candlelight.
It does seem a tad romantic. It really wasn’t that way though.
An evening by candlelight
I went back home from office late in the night to realize that my electricity connection had tripped (I have no idea what this means in electrical terms but it does sound rather cool). No self respecting electrician in Bangalore would come to my rescue at that late hour and this not being Mumbai, (when I could have probably called one), I decided to spend the evening by candlelight.
I realised how much we take things for granted. Things like electricity. I made a list of things you can’t do as a result of the lack of electricity. You can’t charge your phone, you can’t operate any electrical appliance, you can’t watch TV, you can’t read or write. I tried some writing by candlelight and found like I was transported into one of those low lighting slow movies (like Eyes Wide Shut or something). I thought of gate crashing options and decided that I might not be welcome at that time of the night.
Writing by candlelight has a nice slow movie kind of feel to it
The most important thing I realised was that I couldn’t operate my mosquito repeller and meanwhile my rooms were swarming with mosquitos. Big, small, noisy & buzzing creatures — you realise just how much of a pest they are when you don’t have electricity.
Finally, resigned to my fate and hunger (I had not the slightest inclination to cook in the dark), I decided to try and sleep early. But I did quite foresee the difficulty in this seemingly simple act. Being a late sleeper, I found the sleep gods unwilling to descend at that hour.
My mind went back in time… About 2 decades ago to my grandma’s place : a town called North Lakhimpur. Electricity there would come for about an hour in the evening. It was a time for much rejoicing. Everyone gathered in the family room and there was excitement all around. This lasted for about an hour, till the pall of gloom would descend again as the town plunged into darkness for the rest of the night. We had to eat by the light of gas lamps peering into our plates, sometimes not quite sure what the next morsel was all about. It has to be said that there was an element of surprise during meal time.
Then, back to Guwahati where we would spend our summers. All of us cousins would congregate at my other grandma’s place. Even though many of our evenings were conducted without electricity (loadshedding was a common occurrence), we invented games to play in the dark (hide and seek for example, gets much more difficult when you can’t see). It was the days of the AGP agitation against foreigners (read: Bangladeshis) and while tyres burnt and folks shouted slogans outside and the town was ensconced in a dark cocoon, we in our innocence, continued our games.
Counting sheep by candlelight is a recommended activity
Back to the present — Kit Kit thinks the candle is a play-thing. She goes near the flame, screws her nose to get a whiff. I scream, she yelps and scampers off with her tail between her legs.
I decide to count sheep by candlelight. I am overwhelmed by how quiet it suddenly is. Without the hum of electricity and all related appliances, the sound of silence is so much louder.
As the candle burns to the very end around midnight, I finally fall into a deep dark sleep.
All in all, a rather “enlightening” experience. Try it sometime!
I love candles. They have a sort of mystery around them and staring at the flame can take u to places in your mind that u never knew existed.
Posted by Bijesh | August 25, 2006, 12:13 pmreminded me of the movie swades …
and hey…you are welcome to gatecrash at our place ANYTIME :)
Posted by Aqua | August 25, 2006, 3:59 pmI feel at times there are so many small things that occur in our day to day life which we are unable to comprehend how important they are, somehow maybe because of the time restraint or “seemingly” more important issues occupying our minds. Things that are much more meaningful than those typical mundane thoughts regularly hovering around in our minds!
Posted by Gina Kale | August 25, 2006, 8:23 pmwhat a memorable evening! Think if the Candle is Lavender Scented? feel like heaven. try it again with Avon Contemporary Diwali Giftpack. Try this September!!!
Posted by kannan | August 26, 2006, 10:46 amLet there be light
Light could easily be seen when in dark
makes one realise the beauty of light
Counting the enjoyed nights
That you spend in candle light
One could see this a life
And dream of light to life
Stop the violence in time
To live in a happy peaceful world
Posted by Abdullah Fathyn | August 26, 2006, 3:08 pmAB!!
Back in my hometown, electricity cuts are quite a common thing. Back in good old days — without generators and invertors, it used to be the best time with the whole neighbourhood intermingling, the central park buzzing and us kids having a ball…
But then that was the good old 20th century :-)
Posted by Anshul | August 26, 2006, 9:22 pmLovely stories and pictures! All stories about light interest me! We once had a colleague from a remote island village on the Karnataka coast who told me that they didn’t have electricity until around 10 years back.
When I am alone in the house, there are times I put off the light and sit in candlelight.
Posted by Asha | August 27, 2006, 6:05 pmBijesh: Me too :)
Madam Aqua: I did think about you and then remembered you had guests :)
Gina: You bet! And I think its occasions like this when you appreciate things even more!
Kannan: You sound like a closet Avon dealer.
Posted by Anita | August 29, 2006, 6:34 pmabdullah: Thanks for that nice thought!
anshul: we are in the 20th century!
asha: thanks for dropping by and that’s a nice thing to do. I might do it more often now!
Posted by Anita | August 29, 2006, 6:37 pmno no i am not a dealer its a wrong term. Beauty Advisor
Posted by kannan | August 29, 2006, 8:54 pmYour a very good writer and I enjoyed the pic also
Posted by Don Tietig | September 4, 2006, 5:28 pm