Coping with the crunch

CHENNAI: Arbitrary outages, thanks to an acute power shortage, have turned out to be a way of life, and people across the State are slowly adjusting to the situation. While many of them have tweaked their daily routine to cope with the situation, there is a vast majority that cannot live without uninterrupted power. Thanks to this ‘power’ hungry crowd, those selling and servicing inverters are laughing all the way to the bank.Inverter dealers have not only jacked up prices all over the state but are also selling more pieces, with many enquiries pouring in every day. To cash in on the trend, they are adopting various methods to advertise their services – bulk SMSes being just one of them.In many towns, inverter dealers said they are unable to meet the growing demand. “People have started to scout for alternative power sources to power at least a CFL and a fan,” says Bharathi, an inverter trader in Thanjavur.  There is a huge demand for inverter batteries and components, which traders are struggling to meet. In rural areas, though, most people cannot afford the luxury of an inverter. Instead, they adapt by going back to traditional methods that are now long forgotten.Many housewives no longer depend on electricity to pound masala or grind flour and have switched over to the traditional mortar and pestle and hand-operated stone grinders.As a housewife in Nagercoil, Lakshmi, puts it, “No more chutney with dosa. It is now gravy that does not require a grinder to prepare.” In Dharmapuri, women have replaced chutney with ‘milagapodi’ (chilli powder).Students have evolved their own ways of coping with the darkness. In Dharmapuri, school kids maximise daylight to do record work or study. At night, they even huddle together before a lantern in one home.People are also sleeping in the open at nights, which are still cool as the tropical summer has not set inIn some places, people are trying out solar power and other alternative energy sources. Schools in Tiruchy have distributed solar lamps to students and are also teaching students how to live with less electricity. They are hopeful of the government offer to set up generators in schools for Board exams. Hospitals and educational institutions are however using generators for longer hours.