Going Down
May 25, 2006I stayed late yesterday. When I was ready to leave, I called the driver to pick me up. Yes, I have a driver. If you saw traffic in India you would want one yourself. The driver and car are paid for by our company for the residents of the corporate apartment. The driver came upstairs which is unusual. He probably just wanted to make sure I got to the car ok. It was the first time I was being picked up by myself.
We walked to the elevator where we joined a security guard who was going down.
The elevator doors slid shut and with a couple creaks the elevator started down.
After a couple of seconds it eases to a stop, the doors crack open and…
everything goes dark
I see some light coming from the streetlights and into the foot-wide opening in the doors. I panic mildly. The security guard pushes the door open and he and the driver motion for me to get out of the elevator. I place my hand on the driver’s shoulder to make sure I don’t get lost in the darkness. We are not on the bottom floor. My elevator-mates and another security guard who must’ve pressed the button talk in Tamil. I hear shouts and cries from the pitch-black game room next to us that resembles a school lunchroom when the lights are turned off in a vain attempt to establish order.
(Power outages are quite common. So common that one occured at the end of the last paragraph and is still in effect. Thank the good Lord for laptop batteries or I would have lost this blog.
Power’s back! Much better. This fits in well as it is the next event in the story.)
After about a minute, the power came back on and the elevator was back in order, so we resumed our descent with the second security guard replacing the first. The driver and guard started saying the word “mistake” to me in a narrative fashion. It takes me a while, but I figure out the elevator call button must have been pressed by mistake. This was one of two rather fortunate coincidences, because otherwise we would have been trapped in the elevator, the second being my driver’s presence; I would have really panicked without him. But perhaps I should be seeing providence instead of coincidence.
When I got to work today, I find out that Sriraman, my coworker, actually got stuck in one of the elevators, likely in a blackout, later that evening.
That’s crazy. I think I’d stick with the stairs.
I thought that Element K India had its own power generator, or is that just for computers?
Element K isn’t the only one in the building. And sometimes backups fail. My guess that it’s only powering essentials so that the fuel will last longer. I would think elevators are essential though.
Ben,
Wow! I remember those days of eating on the rooftop. Don’t worry about the chitter chatter regarding the use of utensils…I used them nearly every day!
Also, please tell that ther chicken didn’t give you “Delhi Belly” (India’s version of Montezuma’s Revenge!)!
Take care and safe travels…take tons of pics and enjoy this weekend! Have Basia take you somewhere!!!
~J-P
I found out today that the backup generator is not automatic. It must be turned on manually.
I have had some trouble with delhi belly but It seems to be due to spicy food which I had no problem eating taste wise.