Power Interruptus…..

There are many things we have come to expect as the norm here in Bangalore. Cows will gather and eat garbage tossed on the street in front of our apartment complex, trades people will inform us goods will be delivered “tomorrow” and never appear, power failures will darken our lives.

At the Salarpuria Splendor apartment complex where we now live there is an apartment-wide Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) in the basement. That UPS kicks in moments after a local power failure. When we were looking at new apartments UPS was an absolute requirement. In our previous apartment complex, we lived the full lifecycle of the frequent power failures that would sometimes last for eight hours. Fortunately we were assured on our maiden visit to the apartment complex that it had a fully operational UPS. On that cool evening, we were standing poolside when a loud boom from the adjacent neighborhood was immediately followed by darkened apartment windows and the nearby village tossed into utter darkness. Within moments, lights in the twin towers of our apartment complex began lighting up. Starting from the lower floor, we watched floor after floor return to a luminous glow. The village remained dark. Check UPS off the list…

After we moved in, we discovered that power restoration had its quirks. We live on the top floor. During a UPS restoration, by the time power is sent surging to our lights, microwave, broadband router, water heater (known here as a geyser, pronounced GEE zer) power has been surging to our lower neighbor’s lights, microwaves and whatnot. Sometimes our little apartment’s power demand is just too much for the system. Our apartment trips a surge protector in the UPS system shutting the power off only to our apartment.

All this knowledge of surging power, a basement-hidden UPS and tripped surge protectors does not come in a straight line. During a blackout, we had to explore this situation with a “what now” look as we gazed from our darkened apartment into the illuminated windows of our neighbors. A few trips to the basement, along with a helpful security guard willing to flip large red switches that looked dangerous, secured this invaluable knowledge.

So one sunny day when the power failed, all was expected to be restored shortly. Jay was at work but coming home to use the VOIP phone to call a colleague in the US. Helen was washing clothes and tending to other household chores. The normally allotted time for the UPS to kick in had come and gone. A trip to the basement and the flipping of dangerous-looking red switches seemed in order.

We arrived in the lobby and spoke to a security guard about our power situation. He motioned us to the small office of the Maintenance Manager. “Your power has been cut off by the State for non-payment of your bill,” was his brief and authoritative response to our situation. As with many facilities from airports, to water, to power, the State is the controlling interest. We informed the Maintenance Manager that we just paid the power bill five days ago. A bit more hassle was involved, but the flash of a paid receipt was sufficient to get the lights, microwave and other power-driven tools of modern life humming again. We have now come to expect foraging cows at our front gate, delinquent tradesmen and fickle power. Another day in paradise.