Romancing The Storm...!?

After a couple of maniacal storms that rolled in last week, bringing down some mighty trees and power lines with them, a serene repose has fallen in our lives. A quiet stretch where shadows come and go as they please, like those consenting geckos behind the neatly stacked bookshelves.

For more than two days, we remained without electricity...and resultantly fearful of what might happen when our overhead water tank exhausted its supply. We battled the heat and humidity, even as the food stored in the dwindling coolness of the refrigerator presented a dire need to cook and eat more than is our wont. 

In between cooking and eating, everyone kept calling the lineman of the area but to no avail. We were left not only at the mercy of nature, but also that of an under-staffed and overwhelmed municipality and electricity department.

Without television and internet, we felt marooned. The birds swung on glistening branches, chattering non-stop. The excitement was palpable. They had so much news regarding the impact of the storms and how narrowly they had escaped them. Each one was trilling its survival skills and happy that the sun was finally out and shining. We, on the other hand, without a phone in our hand, were lost for words. Without social media to keep our minds abuzz, we let the umpteen upheavals plaguing the nation and the world simply slide off our consciousness. We became preoccupied with what would happen if the water supply did run out and we could not flush the toilet. Visions and odors floated into our minds annulling the romance and the temporary relief from the incessant heat that the Great Ba'al had granted to us mortals. "We cannot rely on electricity to pump  water in the overhead tank," was the unanimous consensus. The need to install a hand pump was sorely felt. 

Awestruck, we watch a stalky guy, who, we are told is the engineer, clamber up the tall electricity pole, and with deft alternating of the hands, install a temporary platform. Upon this makeshift structure, he hauls himself up,  confidence radiating from every pore of his being, and begins to rewire. The requisite tools are tossed to him from a ground crew of two apprentices.  These he catches with one hand; the ease and grace with which he does everything has us all wowing.  The craned necks and unblinking eyes of the gathered residents uphold the suspense and provide the unsought-for encouragement to this wonder-worker, the wizard of electrical wiring. He is the Saviour we had all been waiting for, for more than 48 hours! 

A lady whose house is right by the disrupted power line, serves ginger tea and biscuits to the workers and watchers alike. It is like a little picnic here. Forgotten is the grueling suspense borne for two consecutive days, the discomfort and the heat. We shake hands with the engineer and his two apprentices before taking our leave; grateful.

Walking back from the site of action, still reeling under its spell, we are blinded by sudden flashes of lurid lightning. The thunder rolls in cannonading between the fierce shoulders of yet another storm. Big fat drops, fast and anxious come lashing down and lo, everything is engulfed in darkness again. 

 

At home, we light candles. Shadows appear out of nowhere and plant themselves on walls like sentinels.  Someone picks up a guitar and starts strumming. For the hoi polloi, it seems, there are only candles and shadows to safeguard their dreams...and, with a bit of luck, may be a melody to  hum along.