Out like a light

Here they call it load shedding--a sign of one of the world's most corrupt governments. That is, an inability to supply its populace with enough energy to meet its demands. The problem is not a lack of fuel, my husband explained to me, but corruption in the government. As much as I really love Pakistan, load shedding makes it look ridiculous on the international stage.

At home, when the power goes out, it sometimes causes a small panic--depending on the reason. Sometimes a car hits a pole (local, minor inconvenience). Sometimes a storm will knock down some lines--which can be trouble if the storm is, say, a blizzard, leaving you without heat or a way to cook food. (Time to make use of that fireplace and camp stove finally!) Or a major inconvenience if the storm is a hurricane and clean water could be a primary concern. (Or if you're 14, the primary concern is probably the lack of a/c in September heat… Fran.)

But here in Pakistan, for minutes or hours at a time, it can seem very run-of-the-mill. Back-up power is generally supplied by a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) box, which will power a few essential things, like a single light in most rooms (important at night) and ceiling fans. What surprised me most about load shedding when I first came to Pakistan was just how it didn't seem to affect anybody at all. Without paying attention sometimes, I wouldn't even know when the power was off.

During the day, light isn't an issue if a room gets natural sunlight. The only real problems it caused me on my last visit were erratic internet access and not having any light in the bathroom at night. Sounds trivial to you? I wasn't doing my hair at 2am! Try stumbling around in the dark when you've got to go! Somehow we managed to fit a few flashlights into our bags this trip so hopefully that won't be a problem if I get sick again. Also, now we're using a wireless broadband device that creates a WiFi area when powered by a USB port. So I plug it into my Surface (Surface 1 iPad 0) and can get internet almost anywhere in the house--on any other device, too. Sounds amazing, right? Actually, it's prone to overheating and cuts off all the time too.

One day I was dining at a restaurant when the power went out. For a moment the kitchen went dark (this could be a real issue, as prepared food needed to be kept at a certain hot temperature) and then a generator had the lights and everything back on. Everything, that is, except the cable--a manager came by and turned off the TV that was showing only static.

Now I'm used to it. Though I'll admit, a few times last year I wondered why people were entertaining us in such dimly lit rooms. (A large room with one isolated light on is just that--dim.) And then the lights came on.

I guess the people here get by--and just deal as best they can with the randomness of the power situation, never knowing when or how long the lights will be on. So the load shedding has become just a part of life, I thought, like the setting or rising of the sun. Since I first wrote this post up, though, I started to notice more about the lights going out.

For starters, the times without power seem to be growing, and becomes more of an issue than just sitting in dim lights at night. If the lights have been out most of an afternoon, clean clothes pile up waiting to be pressed the next day. The adhan for jumu'ah was made before all the boys' suits were ready last Friday.

Our food at home is generally prepared using a gas stove with two burners. There's a microwave in the kitchen but if we want hot salan (curry) or roti (bread), you'll need to heat it on the stove which of course takes longer. The baby and I are also only drinking filtered boiled water--which means that one burner is often being used to boil water.

In reality, we have it pretty easy. There are plenty of families, I'm sure, without a UPS who have a much harder time. The government really should be ashamed and embarrassed that it can't keep the lights on.