Powered By Blogger

Thursday 15 February 2007

Current Affairs

Yesterday was Valentine’s day. With no one to spend my day with, I decided to plunge into dreamland (wearing psychedelic clothes and the inscrutable pencil-moustache) to sing romantic duets with my heroine from South India. But then, as happens in all movies – the villains buzzed their way into the scene. It was a host of “bloody mosquitoes”. The time was 1:30 am – For the nth time, it was a power cut (till 4:00 am)!!! Maharashtra’s energy minister, Mr. Dilip-Walse Patil says there is no power-relief till 2008. Hurrah! To meet the shortfall of 5,700 MW(megawatts), the State Government plans to borrow power from captive power units run by companies. It also has plans to get the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd. (RGPPL) operating at its full capacity of 2,100 MW per day from November-end. The big question however is ‘Where to get the fuel for RGPPL from?’ This inevitably will come at the cost of the consumer, as the State Government has been threatening to buy fuel at an exorbitant price. Load-shedding is not the solution. In commercial establishments, people have changed their work timings to adjust to this bizarre scenario. The net result is the same – the same amount of power consumed. The way to tackle the problem would be to educate the public about the power crisis, prevent power wastage and pilferage. People must take the initiative to save energy, be it at offices, public places, or their homes. Mumbai might enjoy uninterrupted power supply today, but if their seemingly callous attitude continues, it won’t be too long before they too are in the dark! The bottom-line is – A watt saved is a watt earned! God said let there be light – and MSED(Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution) played spoilsport. Well not exactly! All our festivals have been celebrated with great fanfare since time immemorial and the trend continues. Mega-watt decorations and blaring bhajans have always received preference at the cost of the common man. Let us not forget the cacophonous and fatuous campaigning of our political parties organize during elections. These “Power Derangers” (I have taken the liberty to coin the word Deranger from derange) have paralyzed the state with their petulant “Power Plays”. To paraphrase what Dave Berry said – “The only reason why I believe that electricity exists, is because the electric company keeps sending me astronomical bills for it.” Whatever be the case or the cause, we definitely are “light-years” away from interminable electric supply. Well on a “lighter” note, one good thing is children from areas like Amravati, Kolhapur, and Panvel will definitely be the indisputable champions if Blind Man’s Buff is organized at the National Level. Also, couples no longer will have to pine for those rare and romantic candle-light dinners. “Groping in the dark” has now assumed a totally different meaning!!!

26 comments:

Maya said...

first of all,congrats for starting off! u hv a habit of only doing the talking otherwise,dnt u?? :)
very good article but not as gr8 as i xpectd u to write...ur sense of humour AND writing skills are "light-yrs" better than wot u've strtd off with...i know u were quite eager & excited to strt blogging...(sorry if this review/comment disappointd u but am dead sure u werent at ur best while writing this...)so,adi,here's to many many blogs frm u to keep me entertained,ofcourse!!;-))
all the best!!!

Maya said...

n btw,did u read my mind by any chance???else how did u knw tht i was planning to write abt power cuts too!!! u r a real chor...n a very discreet 1 at tht :-))
i wil not tolerate ur idea-stealing ways anymore ;-))
Happy writing!!

Kavita said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dashingkris said...

Seems like you had an awful Valentine's day!!! i guess your years of frustration have come out in the form of a blog... Good article (true to the core), but i feel, as maya said, the blog doesnt reflect the sense of humour u have !!!

ANIRBAN said...

Nice work man. The article starts of brilliantly completely abstract and out of context. Great play with words. Tremendous for a first blog. Keep the sarcasm goin (even pull it up a few notches). Hope you have a better valentines henceforth. Till then, sleep well(in the company of your mosquitoes),write hard, work harder and fuck the hardest (whenever the opportunity presents itself - atleast till your next valentine ;))
Cheers!!!

sharada said...

Finally witnessed your much talked about lighting oops writing skills...really good...though started on ur best buddy's behest i must admit that i really liked it...an apt editorial piece...and reading that u were still not at ur best is quite surprising...looking forward to ur best blogs...may d focus of LIGHT be always present on ur blogSPOT :)

Swapna said...

Good wrk 4 a first time blog.
awaiting ur 'D Best Blog'.
Told u 'ur reputation precedes u'

Phani said...

Well, well, well. What can I say! 7 comments already and the guy has just started. Watt..mera matlab..What a blog! Very en"lightening", "power"ful and load(shedded)ed with "bright" phrases and "dim"pled wit.

The problem with these powerless hours is that we have,thanks to our Indian [i]dimaag[/i] have found ways to get around it by getting our chores done before the shedding begins. Before and after the cuts, we consume [i]duniya bhar ka[/i] electricity to compensate for its temporary cut-off.

Unknown said...

Hey good job of creating a blog,something very creative.....
Started of with a good article,nice one!!!
But waiting to read something which is filled with humour!!!

the_jackal said...

Ah.. twas only a matter of time before the prince finally dirtied his hands & arrived to en'lighten' us.. responses or popularity was never an issue for this leo(tard) boy.. starts with a bang..( y the hell am i writing this a if i am some hotsot movie critic or somethin?)...
Typical lack of planning.. blog debut clashes with maya(amma), chooses(or steals) the same topic and eventually gets bashed up by amma(in the garb of encouragement ofcourse!).. sry buddy.. u r not kris or mahesh u se!! ;)

gud start buddy.. keep up the gud work..u guys wil make me proud someday!! adios!

Unknown said...

congrats on ur first blog!!! nice piece... but i have to agree with maya that its definitely not you at ur best!!! (or we have grossly overestimated your abilities ;)...) still, its not that bad either :)... don't lose heart... atleast not till the next valentine ;)... tc

Jimmy Parikh said...

Lets start off on a good note.
It was a wonderful piece of work to start off with. Good mix of words and a splendid showcase of vocab power.
Here comes the critic.
(Disclaimer: Dont want any debates at this. Its my opinion. People who do not wish to read further any switch to other comments. Thanks!)
I think he's got more applause for the words rather than the content of the blog.
When I used the phrase "Showcase of vocab" - I wanted to say that it was the wrong set of word for the wrong topic.
You need to choose a topic and decorate it with words wisely.
So when its a current affairs related topic, the words need to reach out to a wider audience which requires you to use simple words. So refrain from current affairs and give me the linguistic ____________ (couldnt get the right word to fill in. Adi do the needful & FIB) that I expect out of you.
And finally on a humourous note:
I dont think the article has to do anything with power cut at all. It comes out of sheer frustration of being single on 23rd valentine's day of his life.

Vivek said...

Wonderful, and this man says he cannot write! Balderdash!

I cannot help disagreeing with those who say this isn't your best. The best in a writer is what comes out, because in the end the writer is his best critic.

Keep up the good work.

Unknown said...

Congrats on your First Blog!

...And congrats for so many comments too.

But I would agree with most of them that this is surely not your best.
And I am still confused whether your upset becuase you don't have a valentine or you don't like powercuts?

Anyway, have a great time spreading more Gyaan.

aditya said...

Hello all.

First of all I am floored with the overwhelming response!!! Here are my responses to the comments.

Maya, Krishna, Swapna, Vidya, Kriti, Nitya - Will keep in mind your views. Will "try" (I don't know if I can) to write better.
(Also what abt our pact???? I had told all of you to rave abt my blog - BHOOL GAYE????)
This one is for Nitya - I am not only confused but also frustrated!!! Hence even i dont know what I wanna write about


Anirban, Sharada, Phani, Rajesh Jimmy, Reddy - I duly acknowledge your comments too. I don't know what I write, what I will write, but hope to write!

And Jimmy - I guess you were looking for "linguistic lampooning"!

Thanks everybody, please keep giving me your inputs.

Cheers,
Adi.

Phani said...

ive updated my blog bhai

Roopali said...

Hey Adi first of all congrats for your new blog!
Now should i start with criticism or praise?Ok to make u feel good let me start with the good things first ,good piece of article with as usual high frequency words which seem as though they have just jumped out of the dictionary to make way into your article!The same question goes to u that is this article written to give vent to ur frustration on valentine's day or your concern over the power cut problems?If its for the former then buddy u always have a next chance and for the latter its quite genuine!
And to make u feel better you really have the ability to write well so keep up the good work!
You might me confused that i have actually given contrasting views than what I have expressed above!Buts that's for u to decide how to take it!happy blogging!

Kavita said...

Hi, watt a response. Now how many of them were personally called up, invited, begged/bullied into leaving comments? Pls be honest with me. Anyway I am very happy that you have actually started writing which I thought you should have started long ago. Now you know that there is a second lease of life when the truth about your IT ABILITIES surfaces at Hexaware. Please write regularly and more puns, jokes and sarcasm please. I am proud of you Alsu. Pomu.

Pranav said...

Holy shit!!!What was the last line about???By the way welcome to bloggers world.As for the power cuts the rural areas of panvel and new bombay will have to suffer first if at all Bombay is brought into the spot"light".

Sunil Natraj said...

Lol...nice post.
Congrats on your blog thingie...my efforts have borne fruit.

Power issues:
1: 50% transmission loss. With consumption levels this high, we have adequate supply, just that losses are way too high.
2: Far subsidies for power is only for the politiians
3: For people with issues on bombay having load shedding: Imagine a power cut during 1-3 on a trading day at the BSE
4: I am way too serious on your first post. :)

On a "lighter note" (Sorry for the plagiarism), "Welcome Abord" (the blogging ship that is

Neeraj said...

Great going dude!
If only we could write half as good as you do... :-)

BTW, whenever you are pissed with anything, as Mr. Dilip-Walse Patil would say "Jyaada load mat le"!!!

Mahesh said...

hey dude...Congraz for writing ur first blog!!!sorry for the delay!!as i told u, i was extremely busy last week and was not able to post my comment on time..i have already posted my views on maya's blog and i don't think i have much to add now..and right now i am so much into scripting that i can't think of any non-technical stuff to write about!!! and yes, as people have said, u have lost your originality by trying to be a champion writer. be the ghati that you are and people would love to read ur blog!!! Keep up the good work!!

Vivek said...

Adi, could you get these worthies to comment on my blog as well? I mean, I know I write boring stuff, but still, what is a few words between friends?

Aarti Ramanan said...

hey Adi,I know that you value my criticisms a lot and that you dont want me to post my comments so soon. But sorry Adi, couldn't hold it till the end, especially realizing that there are lots of comments yet to come,thanks to ur polite and earnest requests, not sparing...oh sorry... leaving even your slightest acquaintances.I have waited enough...

So, good to see you showing your true colours in your blogs-the dancing with dames...damn! Too good!!! One person who believes in 'being himself' and reflecting them in blogs.Great going,Keep it up...
And,be your better self next time. Want more of your sarcasms and ghaatigiri...I agree with Maya nad Mahesh totally.
And yup,I believe you,Adi.You need to do a lot of paper reading too. Merely mentioning the energy Minister? Should have penned down about the entire cabinet of Ministers.In fact you shoud have gone all the way up till the Chief Justice of India!Power-cuts,not a joke right?
Sheer injustice! But you are not to be blamed. You don't know much,do you?... ;)

So, heariest congratulations on your first blog. Awaiting more of them soon!!!! So be quick...Happy writing....

Vivek said...

I don't know. I would like more people to read my blogs, but somehow, people either don't want to, or don't care to.

outofthebox said...

aditya ji.....coming one ur way....