Stupid EB line man!

Sarcastic remarks on TNEB and its employees have become a trend, well, for the past few months.

Power cuts - Curse TNEB.

Low Voltage - Curse TNEB.

Voltage Fluctuations - Curse TNEB.

Power comes back at 4.01 instead of the scheduled timing 4.00 - Curse TNEB.

Source : The Deccan Chronicle

A common ignorant man might think that it is blatant that power cuts are because of lack of proper maintenance by TNEB. But giving it a closer look proves us otherwise. Unfortunately, I too have been on this side of the people to curse TNEB, mainly its employees whom we call as "Current-karan" (Similar to Auto-Karan, Bus-Karan (Kadan-karan). or similar to Auto-wallah). But I was forced to change my stance at a midnight of a day. Yes, it was around 11.30 PM.

I had my semester exam the next day, the most macabre paper. Having studied for one and a half days without taking break unless essential, I was so tired. I wanted a solid five hours sleep to keep myself from falling asleep during exam the next day. So I finished my works and retired to bed by 10.30 checking my alarm which was scheduled for ringing at 4.00 AM the following morning. It was around 11 when the sleep hit me and simultaneously the power cut.

"Damn!" I thought expecting the power to be back soon. Mosquitoes kept me widely awake along with perspiration. I tried the EB contact number but in vain. A very standard, poised tone "This number can't be reached right now!" Try it after sometime, same result. Even IRCTC website can be accessed with some persistence but not the EB office number. It was 12.00 and I couldn't sleep. I buckled up to go to the office. I hastened along the empty, dark roads to the office which was deserted. There was none in the entire office and slowly people started pouring in at an eerie hour of the day. 

There were some angry conversations and few even hinted interest in ransacking the place. By then, a two dozen people filled the ground below the office with a dozen vehicles blocking the road. Suddenly people left with some destination in their mind and I followed them to reach the post which gets from a station from Kadapperi to my area. There were a few on the top of that post and were working with determination to locate the trouble and clear it. They had been there for the past two hours which left me surprised. Exactly when the power had gone. 

Silently lauding them, I left the place after things had been cleared. I rode my vehicle in joy only to find that the power cut again in another 15 minutes. Again the call process and the direct visit. This time, a malfunction in the transformer near my home and flabbergasted to find two people working before I reached there. After all, they are not what we hear but what we haven't heard. 

They work 24X7 running from places to places, posts to posts, transformers to transformers, faults to faults to keep us cool in the air-conditioned room. They don't attend our calls to hear our complaints but they redress our complaints. They are not the one who cut power but they are the one who just turns the switches on and off. 

The problem is not with these lower end people but with the people at the higher end. This post here is not to complain the higher end of the people but to show the true face of the lower end of the people. That's their part of the story. Coming to mine, the power was back by 3.30 AM, half an hour ahead of my scheduled alarm. I hesitantly changed it to 5.00 AM and woke in time to revise for the exam. 

Yes, I did feel sleepy throughout the most of the day! But I managed to write my exam without dozing off. And as I write this, the power goes off twice. Curse the higher level of TNEB. Is that okay?