Come home from a hard day’s work in the evening, the first thing we do is switch on the light. Switch on the TV. Microwave the food to eat. Electricity… The main thread weaving through all these activities. What would we do without it?

Edison must have never imagined that his invention of public distribution of electricity would be so intertwined with all activities we do in life that we might as well be dead without it.

We shudder to think about life without electricity! We are not used to much of physical labour in the kitchen or out of it. No pounding or grinding of masalas, no need to saw the wood, you have electric saws. We cannot withstand the heat – we switch on the AC, have a cool drink with ice. We cannot withstand the winters – we switch on the heater, have hot soups. Entertainment means music on the i-pod, watching TV or going to a movie.

Uninterrupted power supply is sought for a premium. Consumers are prepared to pay more to the government as businesses depend on electricity. With connectivity throughout the world, offshore businesses consume all the more power as they are working round the clock.

Natural calamities like earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes disrupt power supply and the hardest hit is communication and water supply. Simple things like charging the mobile or getting food become difficult. No clean drinking water because there would be no way to pump it to our homes. Wonder what we would do without it!

Shocking! Shocking! Shocking!

Can we withstand it?

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