Zara Hatke Story – “Rationed Power”
By
Colonel L M Singh, Veteran
The story began almost a decade back. Tired of frequent & incessant power supply of 6/24 hrs by the local God’s (I mean Govt) I emabrked on a journey to Empower oneself – With Power, From the Power of Ra, The Universal, Ever Giving, Most Benevolent of all – Suryadeva.
My home, which is 1010 mtrs far from the gate of the Raj Bhavan (as per my bicycle odometer), like any other in the capital city, was rationed of power supply. We had 25% power supply in a day, from midnight till 6 am daily. Anything electrical had to be done in these unearthly nocturnal hours.
In the year of the lord 2010 AD, every evening one had to look for the familiar hurricane lantern, pour kero oil through the plastic funnel and light it up by 5:30 pm Sundown time. One purpose was to offer prayers in the ‘Sandhyabela’ to the ‘Tulsidevi’ in the courtyard;
and the other was for a backup ambient lamp for the super early dinner by the candle light.
At a very low glimmer, the humble hurricane lamp’s wick served as the guide lamp to sweep away any fears in the darkness of the night.
While on holiday at Imphal, coming from more blessed metros, the darkness at home enveloped my senses. Mobile & Laptop charging were the biggest obstacle in such power supply.
One resorted to franctic purchases of Chinese inverters (which like Face mask & Sanitizer producers of these Covid climes, made fortunes). The problem continued since the inverter had to draw power from the 12 V low AH battery at home. Govt power fluctuated between 150 to 180 Volts for those 6 hrs. It could never recharge the backup battery to adequate levels of ampere hours.
Situation led to a simple burial of the battery; Inverter sellers made tons while we still groped in darkness.
If I may add to the old adage of ‘Necessity is the mother of inventions’;
In this case it was “Desperados Create Winning Situations, if willing to act”.
From the meagre savings of a Pre 6th pay commission retiree with 23+ yrs service, one decided to ‘invest’ few lakhs & valuable months into learnings (Not earnings).
*Attended quick classes on Solar Energy & it’s nuances at Bangalore (being a non technical guy)
*A visit to the 3 MW Kolar solar Energy park spread over 21Acres of Dry Arid Rocky Land (Energized the mind)
* Purchase of SPV plates, Solar inverters, LED Solar bulbs and all accessories needed (many thought me crazy buying SPVs)
*Transporting these few tons of load by 3-6 hrs Flight cargo long haul from Bangalore to Imphal. (Of course that was the only means that made sense at the time, commercially and availability wise).
*One had to befriend a ‘know-all & do-all kinda electrician’ for the wall drillings while mounted on a shaky wooden ladder or CGI sheet rooftop walks. (Of course, no one becomes friends for free in modern times).
After two months of struggle with desperation of the Darkness, it paid off.
My humble house turned a fully lighted up ‘Villa of the Heart’. And probably became an Envy of the Neighbours.
Today, the house is blessed with Uninterrupted Power supply from Self Generated Solar power systems –
– A 3KW Rooftop solar generation hooked onto the Govt Grid (From whom one had to beg in the past for power).
– Another Stand-alone Solar Plates power generator of 3KW with 400AH of battery backups which are always on standby.
– The immediate Neighbors (younger brothers) got inspired to install 5 KW Rooftop solar generator each. (In spite of ltd earnings or savings).
– Thereby, our combined family ‘Gift to the Govt’ is 16 KW of Solar power from an area of 10.5 K sq ft homestead land.
It was couple of years post Premature Retirement in 2003. One felt it was the most Timely Retirement from service, for one felt the longings of a journey elsewhere, along the unknown path.
Of course, one has never been Tired to change and adapt to the world around.
What’s more, beneath the Solar Plates, one could find comforting shades in the mini garden; blessings of early morning chirpings of birds catching worms; colourful mosaic of the butterflies dancing in the day’s breeze.
In gratitude to the benevolent one, the Suryadeva, a black granite plaque (symbolic of darkness) with golden words etched (The brightness within) has been installed, with the extracts from the everinspiring Gayatri Mantra:
ॐ भूर् भुवः स्वः ।तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यंभर्गो॑ देवस्य धीमहि ।धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥
“The Sun, Equals Light; Equals knowledge; Equals Consciousness & Represents God. Let that Light Shine on us’
“Create prosperity out of Desperate situations, armed with Positive minds.”
