Q1.
What would your day be like if there was no electricity at all?
Answer
The day would be far harder and much slower. No fan, no light after dark, no fridge, no pump, no phone, no TV — and many people's work would simply stop.
Walk through the day, hour by hour.
- Morning. No alarm on the phone. The motor cannot pull water to the tank, so we must draw water by hand.
- Kitchen. The fridge is off, so yesterday's milk and vegetables begin to spoil. No mixer — the chutney must be ground on a stone.
- Getting ready. No iron for the uniform. No geyser for hot water.
- School. The classroom is hot and dark. No fan, no lights, no computer, no projector, and the water cooler does not work.
- Shops and hospitals. Shop freezers thaw. Hospitals must run on generators, and machines and lights there are needed to save lives.
- Factories. Machines stop, so nothing gets made and people lose a day's work.
- Evening. Homework has to be done before sunset, or by a diya or a candle.
- Night. Streets are dark. Homes are quiet and hot. People sleep on the terrace to catch the breeze.
Why we feel it so much: Electricity is not one machine — it is behind almost every machine. When it goes, it takes light, movement, sound, heat and cooling with it all at once. That is exactly why the chapter says our lives have become so easy with electricity.
One good thing to notice: people managed for thousands of years without it. Traditional Indian houses had thick walls and small windows, so they stayed cool in summer and warm in winter. A courtyard, a chatai on the terrace, a hand fan, an earthen matka for cold water — old ideas that still work in a power cut.