Unbelievable!

Starting next week the Nepal Electricity Authority has declared 20 hours of electrical power cuts per day (background news info). This means only potentially 4 hours of computer-love (as Peter T. would put it), per day in two-hour blocks! With my luck, a two-hour block will probably fall in somewhere in the middle of night (it already has as I had to sneak out of bed at 4am). This is completely unheard of, anywhere in the world, where load shedding is this much.

I hear that Nepal is one of the top three countries in the world for hydro power generation potential. They can also certainly benefit from solar power as there has definitely been no shortage of sunshine since I have been here (solar water heating is quite popular).

Industries will be if not already crippled, more pollution will be generated since everybody will buy more fossil-fuel burning generators, people will be holding mass protests (it’s already happening), cats and dogs will be living together, and IT volunteers will be staring hopelessly in front of blank computer monitors and pacing catatonically around the room!!!!!

Argghh, ke garne? Nepal-maa, yo jivan ho!

(Argghh, what to do? This is life in Nepal!)

Morning update: arggh, another bandha, but this one seems more serious as we got a call from our emergency line.