Torch

  Up to half the nation’s output of electricity is stolen through illegal hook-ups. Slum dwellers just find the nearest overhead power cable, sling a metal hook over it, then run a wire from the hook to the home. Sometimes inspectors arrive to disconnect these, in which case people simply wait for a few hours until the inspectors have gone then throw over another hook. Up until 2003, this was not even a criminal offence. In some areas, politicians refuse to allow the disconnection of certain villages - even though nobody has paid a Rupee for power in years - simply because the villagers vote for his party.

  You may well ask what all this has to do with you, well the short answer is that all this free electricity for the underprivileged has bankrupted the Indian electricity industry and they cannot afford to keep up with demand. So, more than just a few times, you are likely to be plunged into darkness by a local power-cut.

  These power-cuts are often referred to as ‘load shedding’ - which happens when demand exceeds supply. In the major cities and the Goan costal strip, power supply is pretty good, but elsewhere there might be two or three power cuts a day – in most states. A power outage might last five minutes or five hours. They tend to happen most when you are watching a good TV movie and are just ten minutes short of the ending, or when you are walking through a dodgy area at night. 

   In a nutshell, you will need a torch, but don’t go all cheap on yourself and buy something Made in China for a couple of dollars. The second you drop it onto a concrete floor – it’s history. Neither should you go to the other extreme and bring something like a big metal Maglite: a torch should not be a cumbersome part of your gear. A reliable bright and robust product, which fits in the palm of your hand, such as a MityLite Magnum, will do. For optimum reliability, go for flashlights that use LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) instead of conventional incandescent bulbs. The LED light is also white, not yellowish like filament bulbs. Use only alkaline or lithium batteries for flashlights; never use old-fashioned zinc-carbon batteries.