The day the power went off in Delhi and northern India, I was at home in Bangalore, a city that fortunately escaped the blackout. It brought back memories of my student days in Kolkata, a city then (in the 1980s) notorious for its power cuts. Eight or 10 hours without electricity were de rigueur. The fan would stop working at night: at 38C and 90 per cent humidity, this meant no sleep until the power came back. We would gather outside, talking in groups, varying our routine by walking to the highway that ran alongside our campus, where dhabas served tea (and stronger stuff) all night.
德里及印度北部停電的那天，我正在邦加羅爾的家裏，這座城市幸運地未受波及。這讓我想起了我在加爾各答上學的日子，當時（上世紀80年代）加爾各答以頻頻停電而臭名遠揚。每天停電8至10小時是家常便飯。晚上電扇會停轉，而氣溫高達38攝氏度，空氣溼度達90%，這意味著，來電之前根本沒法睡覺。我們就聚在室外，扎堆兒聊天，或向校園旁的高速公路走去，而不是像通常一樣在原地乾等來電。高速公路邊的Dhaba（印度公路旁邊的餐館——譯者注）通宵供應茶水（以及一些更帶勁兒的飲品）。