Dear 'enlightened' GT readers,

'Then darkness fell...WOOOOOOOAAHHHHHH!…' OK, so who got scared? Frightened of mysterious creatures of the dark?…Most of us are scared of darkness. That's because human eyes need lots of light to function. The reason why I always carry my laalten with me at night. Human progress is always equated with those who have 'the power' — of technology, to create the magic of electricity that makes the night vanish in a flash and runs our heaters, pumps, airconditioners, TV, computers, fridges, mixies, ovens…all that we need to lead the good life. Electricity has transformed our material life, brought enormous benifits to our lives. Yet, to produce all this electricity we are burning more and more oil and coal and making bigger dams — causing untold damage to our environment. Can we produce more 'green electricity'? Also, has it helped to make us more enlightened where it really matters — in our hearts and minds? Africa is still referred to by some as the dark continent — mysterious, unknown, primitive. Is that a fair description? Now which bright spark said that darkness equals being evil, dim, obscure, gloomy. Ask a bat. Happy Deepavali, the festival of lights!

Yours frightfully
— Pandit Gobar Ganesh
E-mail: panditji@cseindia.org