The interruption in the supply of electricity has aggravated the crisis even further by worsening the working and living conditions and it evidently depicts the intractable problem that we all are confronted with.
According to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the scheduled load-shedding of 56-hrs per week is here to stay affecting everyone. The youth of the country are no exception to this.
In fact, they are bearing the major brunt of the never-ending crisis. In an electronic age, when most of the entertainment sources for the urban youth are reliant on the constant supply of electricity, the load-shedding simply adds to their winter blues. It just infuriates the youngsters when their daily necessities and leisure activities get severely curtailed.
Power cuts is escalating into a full-blown crisis curtailing down their productivity and socialization, thereby forcing the whole country to go into a long hibernation. Curtailment of entertainment activities has aroused frustrations among the youth and helped develop negative attitudes.
Entertainment helps them unwind after a busy day of hard work and attending lecture at college because that´s the only time they have at their disposal. Pravin Shrestha, 26, a banker, says, "I expect to lounge around at home when I am back from work and watch games which are telecast live or use the internet but it´s a pity that I am deprived of all that."
Shrestha thinks that the only viable thing is to stay out and avoid going home during the power cuts. He blames the load-shedding as forcing him to change his lifestyle.
Whenever there´s a power cut during the night, the town resembles a ´ghost town´ since it´s dark, eerily silent and gloomy everywhere. "Moreover, with most of the eateries and everything else closed, going out is also not much fun."
While sharing how he´s being affected at his work place, he furthers that the power cuts is disrupting him from sending urgent mails to his colleagues and clients. "I can´t work on my projects and sometimes I just have to postpone my meetings just because I can´t work on my presentations."
Shrestha represents one among many youth in the capital affected by load-shedding.
"It seems we are returning to the Stone Age when other countries have made tremendous progress in all sectors," Shrestha laments.
"Load-shedding has affected my performance in college. It´s really difficult to prepare for assignments and study especially during exams," puts in Jagdish Silwal, 24, a student.
"Besides studies, the load-shedding is killing all the fun as well. For me, post-college hours are the time I am free to check mails, use social networking sites or update my blog but the power cut is making it impossible."
"Being a big movie and music buff, I can´t watch movies and if my cell phone is not charged fully I can´t even listen to music. I am also missing out on all my favorite TV shows," he adds.
For affluent people, load-shedding hardly makes a difference. There are inverters, batteries, generators as a back-up. "But for students like me, the consequences are harsher."
All aspects of social entertainments become stagnant during the winter months. "Whenever we plan something like a house party, we have to keep in mind the load-shedding schedule and it kills all the fun because instead of entertainment, the main focus would be on how to survive in the dark," shares Bishaka Pradhan, 22, a student.
Moreover, she says, "These days you can´t expect to work without the internet. Since I work mostly from home, the constant interruption in electricity supply is acting as a huge bottleneck to retrieve important information, check emails and communicate."
"I can´t do much during the dark hours as there´s neither TV nor the Internet. Load-shedding, especially in winter, is just making everyone miserable, dull and lazy," he adds.
"Even after paying tax on time and being a responsible citizen, why are we deprived of our basic rights?" asks Pradhan, adding, "Who is to be held responsible and how long we have to suffer this way?" "The only thing that has been beneficial due to the load-shedding is that we have more time with our families at such hours," Pradhan shares. Talking about how she kills the time during the power cuts, she says, "I mostly plan a gathering with my friends or visit my relatives; I also indulge in creative things like sketching, enhance my culinary skills by trying out new dishes and also go out for a long stroll."
When we know that nothing is going to alter this gloomy situation any time soon, squandering our energy on futile efforts by complaining about the power cuts is not going to help.
For life to go on there is little choice but to seek alternative ways to spend time during the hours of darkness. Pradhan states, "It´s better to find your area of interest and find alternative ways to be productive during the hours of load-shedding than just stay dull and useless."
Related story
Resolving Kathmandu Valley’s solid waste problems
