Chennai: The past three days have literally been a walk down memory lane for many Chennaiites. With electricity failure in many parts of the city, television sets and mixergrinders did not work. So, people willy-nilly had to tune in to the radio if they had one, or bring out the grinding stone that they had long ignored.
As Chennai and its suburbs were submerged, water entered electricity junction boxes at many places. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) had no choice but to stop power supply, to prevent electrocution.
“Even during the 2005 floods, power supply was not disconnected. This time, we could not go out to get milk and other essential commodities. Cooking dishes was a problem; I had to grind the masalas,” said Amudheshwari Mahalingam, a resident of Virugambakkam.
Radio suddenly regained some of its old glory. “We had electricity on Thursday morning, but the supply got cut by noon. I did not part with the radio, because I wanted to keep track of the Mumbai hostage drama and the flood situation here. After a long time, I heard songs on Vividh Bharati,” said K S Subramaniam, a West Mambalam resident.
For Meenakshi Seshasayee in Mylapore, the past few days have been both painful and exhilarating. “I got a backache after using the grinding stone to make dosa batter and chutney. I felt like being transported to the days of my grandmother,” she said.
In Kodambakkam’s Azeez Nagar, senior citizens were put to hardship. “The milk got spoilt as the refrigerator did not work. I could not contact anyone because my cell phone could not be charged. And I did not go out due to floods,” said Ramamoorthy.
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