Power cut.

About Power Cut

What happens

• Torchlight falls off with the square of the distance and with the angle it lands at. The beam has a bright centre, a faint dark ring left by the reflector, and a wide spill. The lux reading is calculated from that, not guessed.
• The ceiling fan keeps spinning when the power goes, slowed by its bearings and the air. When the power comes back, its motor pulls it up to speed again.
• The tube light needs its starter: it blinks a few times before it stays on. Its hum is 100 Hz, twice the 50 Hz mains.
• The crickets chirp at a rate set by the night’s temperature (Dolbear’s law): about 176 chirps a minute on a 29 °C Chennai night.

The Chennai bit

• “Current pochu”: the power’s gone. Everyone reaches for a torch, and the whole street says it at once.

Inspired by A house in Thoraipakkam, Chennai, India.