Power outages that last for hours at a time. Clogged freeways and broken traffic lights. Eerily darkened malls, idle factories, candles flickering in the corridors.
A nation struggling to overcome its legacy of social upheaval, and rise to claim its place as one of the great emerging nations of the world. We’re talking about South Africa, right? Wrong.
Well, okay, right, but bear with me for a moment, because what I’m really talking about here is one of the world’s fastest-growing and most populous nations…India.
Rigidly-enforced load-shedding has long been an everyday feature of life on the subcontinent, and the critical electricity shortage is only getting worse as the economy grows.
But despite the problems, India still manages to produce more movies than Hollywood, run most of the world’s high-tech call-centres, and manufacture some of the most unattractive cars and trucks known to man. Why am I telling you this? I’m not sure.
Maybe because it’s somehow nice to know that we’re not the only country in the world with a national electricity emergency on our hands.
But mostly it’s to warn you that if you’re thinking of heading somewhere special for a quick holiday break from the power cuts at home, New Delhi might not be such a good idea after all.
