life without electricity is no life

8/12/2019 Life Without Electricity is No Life

1/4

1 | P a g e

LIFE WITHOUT ELECTRICITY IS NO

LIFE.

A flash of light shimmered across the black

firmament followed by a deafening roarpetrifying all and sundry. But now, as amarvelous souvenir of science this mystifyingglint is imprisoned by Man, and employed byhim in every sector of civilization.

Electricity, perhaps the most important inventionof science of modern era, has turned out to be anintegral part of our life. Electricity use is the

foundation for much of our way of life. Mostcommunication (excluding the vehicles) is based

on it. Lighting is universally electric. Manyscientific and industrial advances are alsodirectly associated to it. We would indeed beliving in a very dark world without it. Lessvisible are the myriad industrial processes that

use electricity. Most recent is the rising tide ofelectronic devices, including computers, asessential elements of living.

In this technologically obliged world that welive in, electricity has become absolutelyessential. It represents a luxury that brings forth

comfort and prosperity and that simplifies ourlives to a great extent. With a single flip of our

finger we could make use of the variouselectronic appliances.

The secrets of nature have been wrested by thescientists and the most powerful forces ofMother Nature have been harnessed for the

benefit of mankind. If the ancients could risefrom their graves and see the marvels of our

time they would have been highly bewildered. Ifwe travel back, say by the time machine of H.G.

Wells or the time turner of J.K. Rowling, weshould find life a dull and drub affair in the past.

Our forefathers, years ago, had to bear heat andcold resignedly; fetch water from a distantspring; had to work hard all day long. He wasunknown to all powers of Science.

For instance, a boy staring at the dark interiorsof his room; thought for a split second and wentinto the darkness; lighted the lantern and theroom was vaguely lit. This was the picture a few

decades ago. Portraying the present day, thescenario is somewhat different. The same boy,

now an aged man finds his same homeglimmering gloriously amidst the darkness ofthe night.

Imagining life without electricity, not just a briefpower outage, is equivalent to a horrendousnightmare to us. Life becomes so inconvenient

when the power is out for only a few hours. Asudden power cut would be sufficient enough tosend us centuries back; and we stand asvulnerable as the cavemen were. Since the

products, that have happened to be a vital part of

our day-to-day life, have eased all ourdifficulties and we have become so hardened tothem that we go out of our sync when there is a

blackout. No electronic gadget would work

under such condition. In this eon of web facilitythat has brought the world so close to our fingertips, a power cut would isolate us entirely fromthe same. Virtually everything we do, from

cooking meals to listening to music to writing anemail to a friend, revolves in some way around

electricity.

Starting on a personal note, I would like to

describe the problems when I faced a blackout.It happened when I was in my plus twos. When I

got home from school the power was off. I

thought that I could help my mum in getting alot of cleaning done, but I was wrong. Thelaundry room required electricity to run themachines, and the vacuums also needed to be

plugged in. So then I thought okay, maybe I willmake some tea for after-school supper. Alas!

The stove is electric! So then I thought maybe Ican go out for some snacks, but every singlenearby store was shut down because they had no

power. I came back home, took out the halffilled bourbon packet in my pocket, and wolfed

it down.

So there I was with nothing to do. So I called upmy father which ended up in saying notreachable. I did not try much as my phone wasgetting out of power. What can I do to entertainmyself? I ended up picking up everything off the

bed and putting them away. I started reading

some magazines. However, this entertainmentwas limited, and after I put everything away I


2/4

2 | P a g e

was going stark crazy. The skies soon turneddark and I ended up lighting up candles; these

candles that look so romantic on the dinner tableare not so romantic when they are the onlysource of light and reading by candle light ishighly infuriating

I was so bored that I started to pour the waxfrom one candle to another. Finally I ended up

amusing myself (rather I tried) in playing aboard game in single player mode with candleslit on the side. It did not assist me much as I hadan accident in felling off the candle on my

pillow cover. A plume of smoke rose and I

mentally panicked for a second, but I hurriedlyblew the flames out but the pillow cover has apermanent hole in it right now.

Ultimately after a long strenuous seven hours,the current came back. With the lights on andthe fan running overhead it was a different worldto me. The aromatic candles were really

nauseating.

So that was my story but for the time being letus envisage the consequences of load-sheddingon a greater aspect. On the domestic part, as said

before, all kinds of electronic devices arepowered by electricity. In the sweltering heat ofsummer the rooms are kept cool by means of theelectric fan which supplies wafts of air. Therooms in modern buildings are air-conditioned.

A person sitting in these rooms forgets thescorching heat outside. During the winter thesame rooms are kept warm by heaters. In the

past people returned home, dead tired and foot-sore; their feet blistered and their bodies totally

exhausted. Now journeys are so comfortable.The metros as well as the long journey trains

provide for such comforts. Nights areinconceivable without the lights. The lifts andelevators of a multi-storeyed building work on

electricity; without which it would have been so

exasperating to walk to the upper storeys onfoot.

The everyday chores include various application

of electricity. The electric iron press for pressingclothes; the electric cooker for preparing meals,the heater for warming water and preparing

beverages; the electric scumber for scumbingfloors; the refrigerator for cooling water, and

keeping fruits and vegetables and various suchelectronic devices and gadgets that are

immensely helpful in cutting down the laboriousand tedious tasks. We really can't imagine thetime and effort we put into doing a mere "load oflaundry" before our electric washers and

dryers. As for the entertainment part, our verytelevision, colourful as it is, would just turn

black as a result of a power cut. The cell phoneswould also run short of battery under a

prolonged power cut.

On the economic sector, electricity plays animperative role. Most of the machines run on

electricity; on electrically driven motors. Withthe help of machines propelled by electricitymany articles are produced in factories and

mills. Every kind of industry, be it software or

core, are fundamentally reliant on the productionof electricity. The huge electric hammer, thevulcanite furnace, the electric crane, the welderand the boring screw are the creations of this

mighty goddess. Electric tools have made itpossible to bore into the heart of the mountains,

to divert the course of the rivers; to store waterbehind the dams, to dig canals and construct

barrages, to construct bridges and floatingdocks.

When there is a power failure office-work comes

to an abrupt halt as it depends a lot on thecomputer which in turn is dependent on theelectricity itself. Agriculture is also hampered ifthere is no electricity; water cannot be supplied

from rivers, canals, wells, etc to the field.

In the field of medicine, electricity claims

splendid feat. The various machines that areused for the surgeries be it major or laparoscopy,

all work on electricity. Treatment by X-ray iswithout parallel.

Electricity not only saves time but also it trims

down our everyday expenditure. For instance ifwe make an ISD call it would cost us more; butif we interact with the same person through net itwould charge less- a boon of the computers and

certainly, electricity.

Every moment of mans life, metaphoricallyspeaking, is in command of electricity.Agriculture, industry, surgery, communication


3/4


4/4

4 | P a g e

Off late the hydroelectric plant in Purulia isconstructed which produces 900 MW of power.

In addition, the Damodar Valley Project in Biharand West Bengal has a power capacity of 1181MW. Other such projects include the Bhakra-

Nangal Project which has a capacity of

producing 1204 MW, the Hirakud Projectproducing 270 MW, the Rihand Projectproducing 1 million MW. The NTPC (NationalThermal Power Corporation) has an installedcapacity of 16795 MW. Beside these projects,other measures such as utilizing the solar

energy, tidal, wind and wave energy is alsobeing undertaken.

The wave energy plant in Chennai has an outputof about 75 KW during April to November, 25

KW during the non monsoon months of

December to March and 120 KWs during themonsoon months. The wind is also a significantsource of electricity; about 11 crore units ofwind generated electricity are already being fed

to respective state grids. The wind powerpotential on macro level based data collected

from ten states considering only 1 percent ofland availability is around 46092 MW.

The deficit between demand and supply hit thehighest point in the peak hours (6.00 to 10.00 in

the morning as well as in the evening). The

respective state governments are trying; in factthey have made various measures as well asreforms to suffice for the needs of the populace.The consumers, as well, have their own

responsibilities. They should also keep in noticethat the load should not be excessive; they

should use the CFLs to save energy. This wouldenhance their own life lessening the powerfailures. Citizens can also contribute by using

less electricity during the morning peak (6.00a.m. to 10.00 a.m.) and evening peak (6.00 p.m.

to 10.00 p.m.) Steps like avoiding the use ofACs, ironing and other three phase usagesduring these time periods can bring a relief in

load shedding.

Electricity is something many of us take forgranted, and it is amazing how much of our livesis so dependent on this. All we need is one

lengthy power failure and we soon learn the

value of electricity and how much we dependupon it.

Going over the main points, electricity is

actually a boon of modern science andtechnology; without it life would be akin to an

individual living without his brain- he has goteverything yet nothing. To keep the countrymarching towards Utopia it is necessary that this

charismatic power called electricity reach eachand every corner of the Nation- with no power

breakdowns as such.

-Jayashree Sengupta

2nd Year, Civil Engg. Department.

Bengal College of Engineering and Technology,Durgapur-12

life without electricity is no life

Documents