@the realization continued

hmmm..... so we continue now....

Actually, i need to go a little back. It has to do with the encounter with the Canadian I talked about in 'the realisation'. It started with a casual talk. He came up with a cup of coffee in his hand, and sat at one of the benches near us. A little bit of introduction, and then he asked us, "do you people have to make a choice in Power Engg. and Electronics while pursuing a course in Electrical Engg.???", to which Nikhil promplty replied "we major in Power Engg. but Electronics is also taught to us reasonably". Then Aprajita asked him "it must be very cold in Canada??", and this marked the beginning of his non-stop narration. He told us, that certainly Canada was a cold country but it was not the same cold everywhere in Canada and that it very much depended on location. He said (pointing his finger towards the monogram on his jacket), that he had worked in such-and-such place and that average temperature there was around -25 degree!! which could be interpreted as, the lowest temperature was around -30 degree!!! Then he told us, how they people relied very much on Electricity in Canada. Electricity was life for them. They could not even light the gas stove to cook food without electricity, nor the furnace would work without electricity.

He told us about an incident when he had to go out of Canada for a few days. One of his neighbors would check everyday that the furnace was working properly and that the house was well warmed. Once there was a gap of about 30hrs for checking the furnace, and unfortunately the furnace did develop some fault and stopped heating. When the neighbor came next day, he found that the water supply pipes were all frozen, and the water inside had expanded to ice, so the pipes were all burst. It had cost him $500 to replace the pipes and $2000 for the furnace. After this he narrated the most disastrous incident that took place in 1998 probably.

It was winter season. Rain was pouring. And the cold was such, that as soon as the rain drops came into contact with any physical thing, it froze to ice. So was the case with the power transmission lines. The rain drops were pouring continuously which resulted in a 15cm ice-loading on the transmission lines, which they could not withstand, and all the towers collapsed one-by-one. This aggravated the disaster in a way, nothing else could do. As soon as the transmission lines collapsed, there was no electricity because of which many people froze to death in their own homes!!!

It was then that I realized, that many things which we take for granted, carry the importance of life to some other people. It was then, that I realized, that how important my discipline of study was to the outer world. How much they expect of us!!!! It was then, that I started respecting my own discipline of study. It was then, that for the first time, I felt proud to be an Electrical Engg. student.