As I sat wondering what to write about Street Lights, my thoughts went back to the Kolkata(then Calcutta) of the Seventies. Those were the times of daily power cuts in our city. There was acute power shortage and hence the power cuts or load shedding as we called it. We children would hurry to finish our homework before everything went dark. The situation changed from the Nineties onwards and now, we have no such issues.
And that brings me to the topic of street lights. It was only when the streets were pitch dark and felt eerie did we realise the street light’s real value. We learnt not to take it’s illumination for granted. If ever we were out on an errand and the power cuts occurred, our hearts would pound. Everything around seemed scary and ominous to our childish mind!!
And to while away the dark hours, fanning ourselves with hand fans, my father would tell us stories. Ramayana, Mahabharat and so on.. He would also tell us about the time when street lights were actually lit with gas.
When we grumbled about having to study in the light of a lantern, he would tell us about Sri. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, the great educationalist and social reformer of the 19th Century, who studied under the gas lights in the street of Kolkata, after sunset. Apparently, they were the only source of illumination after sunset. Having street lights meant greater security and mobility for it’s residents. Then came the Carbon Arc lamps.
In fact, Kolkata was the first city to have electric street lamps. The evolution of the street light reflected the evolution of the city. Urbanization and better trade and commerce.
We now live in a world of energy efficient, smart, LED lamps used in street lights. They can sense the day break and switch off on their own.
As I look at the street lamp in front of my house and the various activities buzzing under it, I wonder what tales these street lamps could tell. The first electric street light must have looked down it’s nose at it’s predecessor, the gas light, while the gas light must have smiled serenely at the electric light’s lack of maturity and sense of history. Much like the interaction between two different generation of a joint family.
0 Comments