At the end of a long week, I had a candlelight dinner, of sorts.

It all started out like a pretty typical Friday. Finish up the last few things at work and then head home to drop off bags before heading out to dinner. Yes, sometimes there is a stop along the way, but not tonight.

Then things changed. During the short stop over at our bungalow, we started refreshing a bit and getting ready for dinner, when there was a flicker and the A/C went out. We had been having issues like this over the last couple of days, and have had to get used to surviving with the generator (ceiling fans, no A/C). While my friends still freezing in Chicago may have no sympathy, it is quite hard to sleep when it has been around 40C during the day and only hot air is blowing over you as you try to rest.

This time, it turned out that our whole neighbourhood (Koregoan Park) was in the dark. So we did what any people who are hungry, thirsty, and hot on a Friday night in Pune would do, we headed out for dinner. For those of you who have not been to India, you might be surprised that we ventured out during a black out. But what you may not know is that these are common, and just about every place has generators so that they can keep functioning when this occurs. So off we went, our path lit by the flashlight of a cell phone, to one of our favorite watering holes.

Since indeed they were in the dark, but serving, we grabbed an outside table and where given a candle which we could use to read the menu and place our orders. Part way through our stater (a karari roti) the lights came back on, and we were very hopeful (rightfully so) that we would have A/C back at home after our dinner.

So, it may not have been one of the candlelight dinners of my dreams, but I should be able to dream well tonight, sleeping in a room that can be kept at a moderate temperature.

Wendy

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