I like power cuts ...

I like power cuts in the night.

It provides a false sense of security and superiority with the all prevailing darkness; much like the confidence of a cat that closes its eyes and drinks the milk. Once the rest of the world is shut out all around, your alert and alarm systems will lower the guard, your response mechanisms will stand down and you start feeling better with just yourself to think about. No more concerns, no more worries; because nothing else exists then.. just you and your world.

On a side note, this is probably what is done in meditation - switch off the chaos around and look inside, be one with one's own self. I am not sure what happens during the process - is it the same false sense of peace and content you get by deliberately ignoring everything other than 'self', or is there something more profound? I am also not sure whether this detachment from reality, this alienation of all that is around, is the right way to attain peace and consciousness. Isn't consciousness the realisation of things as they are, and their subsequent acceptance? What else can set you free more than knowledge? I don't want to comment. But I have read somewhere - 'Silence is not what you get before the music starts and after it stops; it is the very essense of music that makes it music'.

My reasons for liking powercuts is but something else. It sets us free. When I was in school powercuts were a good excuse to run away from homework and books for sometime. I still remember how kids from the neighbourhood used to get together for stargazing or another round of hide and seek. It also forced us to get creative- games had to be deviced to suit the situation. It was also an occasion for the elders to get together and mourn the loss of the television serial telecasted during that hour. Then as I grew older they beacme the right time for me to sit with my Harmonica and try playing some notes. For one thing, I practised regularly, an hour each day without fail. It also helped me in playing by feeling the notes than seeing the position of the holes. Probably the only time I did something with a ceratin amount of discipline and rigour, though it was thrust upon me. Gradually the Harmonica gave way to the Guitar and powercuts again had a big role in me getting the chord progressions right.

These days when our lives are so much dependent on electricity, you will be plugged into some electrical device all day, be it computers, television or the music system. Powercuts are those occasional windows of freedom we get from the clutches of electromagnetics. A good time to get out of the house and see some stars or take a walk or even get that static charges off your body.

But just like any other slight deviation from the 'regular and comfortable' life, we always complain about it.