I was eyeing the clock intently, it was almost 10 pm. Two more minutes, and the power would be gone. I refreshed my yahoo mail one last time for the day, after 10 I will not have a choice but to hit the bed. It was Zulmai’s day off and I felt too lazy to go out in the cold to start the generator. 10:02…..10:04……10:06……the power stayed on and I thanked my lucky stars. I was sure now that it will be 11 before the power would go. If only all days were that predictable!
October began and the power situation started deteriorating in Kabul. I would count the number of hours we had city power, as opposed to how many hours we did not have. It was still manageable till we started feeling the cold. There was a predictable pattern initially – power from 6-10 pm – period. Then the supply became a little erratic. Power would come on late at 7, but would stay on until 11. Sometimes came at 3, still stayed on till 10. Even sometimes, stayed on through the entire night – that was a real luxury. But that meant we go without power the whole of next day. Despite the crazy schedules, I still thought I had a reasonable assessment of when we will have power. How little I knew!
It had become like a mini project with regular discussions about how to address this problem. All possible solutions under the sun were thrown on the table (rather carpet?), but we seemed to be heading nowhere. I missed most of the discussions – albeit unintentional – as I always came home late. Amidst so many projects, why the progress of the power project evinced much interest among office staff? Now it dawned on me.
I never imagined I would struggle for something that is taken for granted back home. It was so irritating to schedule all tasks around availability of power – from showering to dining to watching TV. There were days I would be so irritated, I would feel like banging my head on the wall. Why did I have to leave my cozy one room accommodation? But then I knew very well why. If there is anything that makes all this bearable, it's the housemates. We have our exciting days. One weekend we decided - to hell with the power - and ran the generator for 4 hours just to watch 2 movies. Many other weekends we sat around a hurricane lamp and chatted into the wee hours of the night.
October began and the power situation started deteriorating in Kabul. I would count the number of hours we had city power, as opposed to how many hours we did not have. It was still manageable till we started feeling the cold. There was a predictable pattern initially – power from 6-10 pm – period. Then the supply became a little erratic. Power would come on late at 7, but would stay on until 11. Sometimes came at 3, still stayed on till 10. Even sometimes, stayed on through the entire night – that was a real luxury. But that meant we go without power the whole of next day. Despite the crazy schedules, I still thought I had a reasonable assessment of when we will have power. How little I knew!
It had become like a mini project with regular discussions about how to address this problem. All possible solutions under the sun were thrown on the table (rather carpet?), but we seemed to be heading nowhere. I missed most of the discussions – albeit unintentional – as I always came home late. Amidst so many projects, why the progress of the power project evinced much interest among office staff? Now it dawned on me.
I never imagined I would struggle for something that is taken for granted back home. It was so irritating to schedule all tasks around availability of power – from showering to dining to watching TV. There were days I would be so irritated, I would feel like banging my head on the wall. Why did I have to leave my cozy one room accommodation? But then I knew very well why. If there is anything that makes all this bearable, it's the housemates. We have our exciting days. One weekend we decided - to hell with the power - and ran the generator for 4 hours just to watch 2 movies. Many other weekends we sat around a hurricane lamp and chatted into the wee hours of the night.
As I get ready to go on leave next week, the different options are still echoing around the house. Rent or buy a bigger gen? Stay or move? Whatever, I can put all this behind me for an other month, and come prepared to face it in January. Hopefully there will be a solution by then….Insha Allah!
