Vandana Gombar Ayyagary: Quit India, should I?

My Week

This is not a good sign. I think the superboss dozed off for a bit as I listed out the special stories planned by the energy vertical for the week. I make a mental note to pump in some more energy into our energy stories, but I really hope his few seconds switch-off is due to other reasons. "So is the energy situation better or worse," he asks, as he snaps back. I know it is worse from empirical evidence "" we had power cuts in winter at our home in Surajkund "" but we have not been able to lay our hands on the darned numbers.

Tuesday
Manna from heaven, well actually from our MPs. The latest data on the gap between supply of and demand for power is in one of the Parliament questions. Some fishing, and we get the comparable data. The power situation is clearly taking a turn for the worse. It promises to be a sweltering summer, especially in this blessed capital city. Mental Note: Must revive my quit-India movement or at least start a quit-Delhi one. Wonder if I should try Mauritius or Goa?

Wednesday
Finally get to see what I've been waiting months for "" the innards of a power generating station. I visit the over 30-year-old Badarpur Thermal Power Station, since it is close by. I get that quaint feel of "a temple of modern India". It takes you to an age when heavy industry was our focus and Russia was our main technology supplier. I saw huge mountains of coal "" powdered so that it can burn well in the boiler. I saw the dust of that powdered coal in the streams of sunlight that came through. I saw the orangish-yellow flame in the boiler from different angles. I heard the continuous thunderous sound as coal was fed in. I saw the turbine and the generator of all the five units that make up the 705 MW capacity of the plant. I saw the control deck. I saw the gushing chimney "" the landmark of any power plant "" and the pollutant-filled slurry water. I wonder about its impact.

"We have regular health check ups, and we take precautions," said the operations manager at the plant, who is also our guide, O P Vij. I am not too reassured. The plant, which has recently been taken over by NTPC, also houses a township "" a norm in those days "" complete with a school and a hospital. Mental note: Must visit a newer plant, which I am told is not so sooty, or noisy.

BHEL is the main equipment supplier and I remember the stories I heard about that company "" stories of Jawaharlal Nehru attending its board meetings and pushing targets. Now that was a man with a mission and a vision. It's sad there is no such visionary in our midst today. The only innovation I see from the evolved club of economists who lead our nation today is in taxation. They are taxing my pizza, my car service and every other service. Mental note: Must seriously revive work on my quit-India movement.

Also... A colleague requested my intervention for an LPG connection. But isn't that available off the shelf? I saw full-page ads from the petroleum ministry to that effect. And the Parliamentarians are going red in the face saying there is "no" LPG shortage. Would you believe the government or your colleague?