Electra was an electron. He was a copper by birth. He lived at 3D9 in a copper molecule. He was a highly energetic creature and loved running around. Elders in his house saw his penchant for running around and put him in a Drifting School. Drifting is the electronic equivalent of Engineering. It ensures an immediate job as soon as graduation is over and electrons are really paid well too. Electrons attending the Drifting school acquire at the end of their training, the ability to drift around, what they call in electronic terms, the Drift Velocity. These electrons then graduate to become F.R.E.E Electrons. Free electrons are primarily possible for drifting around in copper wires producing something called Electricity.
For two months now, Electra has been unemployed. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has taken to Load Shedding to solve the Power Crisis in the state leaving Electra and several Avogadro numbers of other electrons in the lurch. Load Shedding is the electronic equivalent of recession by the way - high unemployment rates, no jobs, no money, etc. Many electrons have also been driven to suicide or leave the copper immigrate to more electronegative elements like chlorine, fluorine where prospects are better off.
Mokkai apart, The energy scenario of India, more particularly Tamil Nadu, is at the height of its inenviability (Dunno if there's actually a word like that). Tamil Nadu has a power deficit of about 3000 MW. It buys 2000MW from other states, while the remaining 1000MW is compensated by load shedding. The first and favourite reaction from all of us is obviously criticising the State Government. We will be justified in doing it. While the plan was to install an additional generating capacity of nearly 2000MW in the last four years, the Government has managed only about 500MW, which is less than a quarter of the target. But Strangely, though not surprisingly, the cash from the treasury has disappeared, which obviously means Arcot Veerasamy is a richer man than he was.
However, restraining from political brickbatting, the power crisis is more in our hands than anybody else - even the government included. This is probably the right time to learn some new things about life - an opportunity in adversity. Akio Morita, in his autobiography "Made in Japan" tells us of a very old Japanese philosophy, a concept which all Japanese will swear by, and one that is properly soaked in their bloods, so much so, that its a way of their life. This concept is called Mottainai.
"Mottainai" is the shocked response a Japanese mother is likely to give when her son throws away the karuvepala (Curry Leaf) in the sambhar. Japan is extremely deficient in resources. They dont have minerals, they dont have space, so anything they get is a gift. It comes at a high price, but more than that, it is rare, and if it means they are getting something, it is only because someone else has been deprived of it. Indians, on the other hand, have too much of everything. Or to put it in a better manner, few people have too much of everything, while the majority lack even whats necessary.
In the energy scenario, we could take a lot from the concept of Mottainai. For instance, Mukesh Ambani's 1 billion USD house, Antilla, has at least 25 AC's and they run the full day. Now imagine. If Mukesh Ambani stopped at least 10 of those AC's, one whole village in Tamil Nadu could get continuous power supply for the whole Summer. Hows that ?!
Consider the following data analysis.
Tamil Nadu's installed capacity is 15000MW which comes to about 1250MW per month. And 1100MW of that goes just to power the Air Conditioners in the month of May !! Whats the solution? Mottainai.
Lets say each household vows to use one hour less AC. 25 lakh people decide to use their AC one hour less. That comes to a figure of 6.25MW power saved everyday ! Over a month, it translates to about 200MW. 200MW could power one whole rural district for the full day for a full month !! Even those measures aren't necessary. If every household can restrict their AC consumption to just 6 hours a day, a lot of the load shedding could be done away with.
Energy saved is energy earned. I know it is cliched, but saving energy is the best solution we have got. While the rest of the world says, reduce energy consumption to reduce emissions, we have a much more important reason to do so - to share power equally among us. Ultimately, like Gandhiji says, we can only generate to our need, not to our greed.
So, If you left a fan running in another room, and are too lazy to go switch it off again, remember, one small child will not sleep that night because of a power cut in his house.
If you feel like sleeping in the afternoon with the AC on, remember, many people have lost sleep because of the heat and not even a fan to fight it.
If you feel like keeping your laptop/ computer switched on the whole day cos you are too bored to switch it off and on again and again, remember, hundreds of textile mill labourers lost their livelihoods just because their milling units dont get power.
Boost is not the secret of Energy. The secret of energy is Mottainai. Use it. You can make the difference !
