The family of five at 3/41 Netaji Nagar, Tollygunge, has been groping in the dark since 12.10pm on Monday, when power went off in the Aila effect. “We lodged a complaint today. Some CESC men were working in our locality in the afternoon. When we approached them they said that since their’s was a small team, they could do nothing to restore power to our house,” said homemaker Sulata Nag Chowdhury, a mother of two. Daughter Debapriya, a Class XII student, said she had to study by candlelight as the emergency lights had run out of charge. Picture by Amit Datta

Joy Sen lights up the Calcutta stage — literally — with his skills but his home is in darkness. Lighting designer Joy, whose father Tapas Sen had pioneered the craft of illuminating the stage, and his sister Jayanti have not had electricity in their house at 26H, Naktala Lane, since 10am on Monday. He narrates his ordeal to Metro.

It has been nearly 60 hours — and counting — since the lights went out. I must say this is turning out to be a memorable period of darkness, revealing the darker side of human nature such as the selfishness and deceit that people are capable of.

A while ago, someone sighted a CESC van and people began fighting over it. My para seems to have lost out for the time being. The CESC workers are taking their own sweet time; perhaps they lack experience and are unable to cope with the pressure.

In my childhood, all power cuts used to be described as “fuse”. But they lasted for short periods. Nowadays we can be sure of nothing — neither electricity nor water — whenever there is a crisis like this. My work has been held up; I am working on several projects but there is only so much that one can do by candlelight.

Even on stage a candlelit scene cannot be depicted with the light of a candle alone. There has to be a hidden source of light — a wash light or a booster, depending on the composition and mood of the play. However, the light of a diya was used very beautifully by my father in Achalayatan, a play by Roopakar for which he had also designed the sets.

Me and my sister’s companion in these hours of darkness has been the radio. But how long can we continue like this? The pump won’t run without power and we are running short of water. I am unwell and unable to do much… I guess we just have to wait for things to look up.

Kaushik Roy, 73

Jodhpur Park

Our area is still in darkness. On Tuesday morning, I went to the Dhakuria office of CESC after failing to get through to the utility’s complaint number 1912.

The front door was locked. When I approached the backdoor, someone quickly slammed it on my face and blocked it with a table. After repeated queries, a voice inside asked those of us gathered outside to write our grievances and slip in the paper under the door.

I again turned up at the office around 4pm but it was empty. A team came in the evening and tried to remove the uprooted tree with a payloader without disentangling the wires. Three more electricity poles got uprooted in the process and many more houses plunged into darkness.

When residents gheraoed the CESC personnel they said CMC men who would chop off the branches were not accompanying them.

The police had to intervene. The CESC men left threatening they would not be back soon. I have temporarily shifted to a relative’s house in New Alipore as it is not possible to live without power and water.

Gautam Barua

Lakshmi Narayan Motilal Road (south Calcutta)

There is no electricity for three days and we are not being able to operate the pump. The men in our family bathed in a nearby pond. The women had to make do with the little water that we could bring from the pond. Even the houses that have inverters were dark on Tuesday evening as the batteries were all used up.

Sumanta Chowdhury,

Narendrapur

There has been no power since Monday noon. The branches of uprooted trees entangled in power cables were strewn on the roads.

Every time we called the state power utility we were told supply would resume shortly. On one occasion, an employee pleaded helplessness saying they could not work after sundown for want of halogen lamps.

I had to go to a neighbourhood club for a shower and am stocking up on mineral water bottles. The food in the refrigerator has gone stale.

Neha Dhavle

Garia (near Bansdroni Fire Station)

No power since Monday morning. The uprooted trees in our neighbourhood are yet to be cleared. We went to the local CESC office several times but the officials said restoration of the supply would take some time as they were understaffed. We are planning to take to the streets.

Are you still without power? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com