THE SUMMER-II

In my last post on Summers, I had brought the pleasures of tackling summers with indigenous means. In the years gone by, I was brought up in the Texas of India. The name Texas is synonymous with the state of Haryana and especially in the Indian Defence Circles.  The reasons are manifold but the best reasons are the weather,the standing hair of robust men from Haryana and their glazed model cowboy looks!! Circa 1985, I was roughing out Class IXth and many new factors had started emerging in my life and especially in School. The environment of the society and school was changing rapidly. We were all generating newer outlooks in our respective spheres.

           

I was getting favorable glances from the opposite genders and also the political scenario of the state was changing toward a new regime. Me and and a few friends were also great cricket fans and India after tasting its maiden World Cup triumph of 1983 was playing a major tournament called "World Championship of Cricket" Down Under in 1985. The changing personal life, the pressure of Class IXth and the love of the game were all mounting on our fragile and impressionable mindsets. Vociferously, a new leader was also emerging from behind scenes to take over the reins of the state. His rhetoric was "Power to the Rural Areas". As the power started vanishing from the cities, our lives also started changing.

         

 A teacher of mine was keeping a careful tab on our activities and one fine day after the Term-I exams he rounded a few of us. He wrote on the Board- " Intelligence is Only 1% and 99% is Preparation" and cited Arjuna's Mahabharata example. He advised us to conserve our precious energies to reach our goals. His cold looks scared the crow out of our "juvenile turning adult" minds and we pledged subservience to our aims and studies. The final match of the Cricket Championship was scheduled that afternoon and as usual the electricity had vanished from our town. We cycled straight from School to the Boys Hostel of Medical College , Rohtak which enjoyed the constant trickle of electricity. Whilst watching the finals and a historic win by India was followed by Ravi Shastri winning the famed Audi Car. I and my buddy pledged to ourselves that we would deliver what we had promised to our venerable teacher Mr Ishwar Singh Varma.

          

The hide and seek of electricity amidst the charged battle before the ballot was on. The same evening, my mother got hold of 02 Lanterns, a nylon rope woven chair and a vintage table was rigged up for me in my room. The spartan wooden plank bed had a thin mattress and a bed-sheet and the game was set. The electricity supply to the towns was for 8 hours a day and in patches. The longest hour was from 2000- 2300 hrs and then it was all darkness. The lanterns used to be kept ready at 2230 hours and sharp at 2300 hours, both the lanterns used to be fired up. Sitting on the nylon rope chair which bent at an angle, the studies used to be peaking up at around 2300 hours in the light of the lanterns. The night was set for a long haul and the tryst continued.

           

The   wily crusader for electricity to remote areas of the state won a historic election in 1987 and my classmates roughed out their XIth and XIIth in an environment sans electricity at crucial hours. The summers and winters came and went and we continued in the search of our aims. The distractions of our lives also left us after Class Xth when en-masse they decided to take admission in an All Girls College. We became a closed knit bunch of boys in an otherwise co-ed school. The final results after school were encouraging and most of us embarked on our professional journeys.

           

 The Summers have not changed and neither have the temperatures. Also, the slogans of powering up remotest parts of our vast Nation have not changed. The Met Department has been putting forth the big data and this week the temperatures have broken the 62 year old records. This means that 62 years ago also we had similar temperatures in our Country!! So, what has changed in effect? It is the resistance to survive the heat and cold which is changing and the blame is on the climate and the man who gives the slogan but then struggles to fulfill the same. The solution is simple- either bear or wither. We are consuming and consuming we are at a big pace. We gobble faster than we generate. Probably, the Teacher was right- we need to focus on our core jobs and conserve our energies. Each one of us needs to contribute. Switch off the light and fan that we do not need. Reduce the wattage at homes and do not keep the appliances on a standby. Go green and motivate children to conserve energy for a better tomorrow. Let us help the institution in its efforts- let us consume minimal to stay happy and share the precious energy with more consumers.