Thursday, March 26, 2009

Turn off the lights


OJ Masi first turned the light on, here.

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March 28, 2009, 8:30pm to 9:30pm. Try it. Turn off your lights at home for an hour. It should be particularly interesting and of importance for those of us with children. It's their future at stake, right? Ahmedabad has almost no powercuts, so the idea of a blackout, even if for an hour, should be fascinating for Nino. He knows he's got to save 'elecktricity', but well, does he know how different life would be for him without it?

Have a candle-light conversation with you kid. Sing aloud. Make shadows on the walls. Step out on the terrace and hear the sounds of the neighbourhood. Make dinosaur shapes from star constellations. Listen to heart beats. Whisper. Say a big thank-you to the lightbulb in the sky. Use a handmade fan. Blow on tiny curls that bounce back with such joy. And may be, if you're this side, you can watch a flock of egrets soar high above our high-rise, white lines of beauty and power, of white light amid a tar-grey sky.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

beautifully put that is.
Huge coincidence I just received an email at work about the same and a pretty drab one.
Will try it, though little V's dad is flying out to US on saturday afternoon and we two will be all by ourselves for 3 weeks...in this 'masti hai mastano ki delhi'
:)

Choxbox said...

or one can lie on the terrace, stare at the stars and sing 'dil dhoonta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat-din..'

btw wasnt there a story by jhumpa lahiri which involved power cuts?

In love with my life said...

I signed up...i have my mom and aunt visiting. Powercuts are a daily feature in their lives...And V is acquainted through his visits about it.

Looking forward to candlelight gossip session for the grown up and some candle light drawing for V:-)

Altoid said...

I love this idea! I love using any reason to light candles...alright!
That's what I am gonna do :)

VJ said...

Hi Nino's mum,
first time here... have been lurking for sometime..
sing loud, make shadows on walls!!
brought back lot of old memories !!

Nino's Mum said...

Preeti - :) all the more fun then!

Choxbox - oh yes. the excellent 'a temporary matter'. I can still feel the dark and smell the food in that story. aur wah, kya gana suggest kiya hai!

InLoveWithMyLife - sound like a whole lot of fun: do post about it!

Altoid - *grin* you caught my real motive too!

VJ - welcome here. It's these kind of things that make the memories we remember ages later, no?

Anonymous said...

'Say a big thankyou to the lightbulb in the sky' :) Lovely imagery. So many things you can conjure up from experiences and imagination. Nice.

Best wishes, Anjali