Delhi can learn a lesson from Pokhara

I have spent some of the best time of my life in this quaint laid back town in the foothills of Annapurna Range in Nepal.

As a country Nepal has a long way to go before it can be called by any name other than developing or even underdeveloped. However, one has to admire a few things about Nepal that probably would put a Giant like India or even the US to shame!

We used to wake by 6:00 am... WITHOUT the alarm! Have a "healthy" breakfast- usually cereal, juice and milk with tea/ coffee and be ready after a good leisurelu bath by eight. This included our daughte who was barely two at that time.

The place starts early. As early as six, one would find some shops, including stationers or shoe stores, opening shutter. With sun down, most of the city would prepare to either 'enjoy' their drink or sleep off to prepare for the next day.

After a full day's work at the Eye Hospital, an evening class for the junior doctors, a journal club with the consultants AND a session on the internet to stay in touch with the rest of the world, my husband used to still be back home by six or six thirty in the evening! Having had a coffee with some snacks we would set off- long walks by the lake-side or in the foothills or even in the gorge or dam area... we could go on and explore and not tire of it. This was, ofcourse our fascination with the natural wonder of this geologically diverse land. This unique place had a deep gorge and a free flowing river, a high snow covered mountain peak and a lush green valley, flat lands with grasses as far as the eye can see and brown dusty desert in the other direction. The diversity of the goegraphy had us spell-bound.

The lake-side offered us with big and small Eateries and the particularly good German Bakery whenever we needed to tank up. There were well laid out 'shops' that seemed to be the precursors of malls. Extraordinarily, Pokhara had more book and music shops by the lakeside than Delhi's central business district! And well stocked, too! This may have been the result of the tourist influx... nevertheless, Pokhara offered whatever needed from my life at that time.

It was the administration of this quaint township that impressed us...

The city is divided into zones and each zone has a prefixed and well announced loadshedding time. Sure, Municipal Corporations divide Zones for governance. This was a newe take on admin for us. We stayed in the 'District' that would be dark from 6-9 on Thursday. We could plan to go to the Lakeside which would be shedding on Monday or to the Eye Hospital that would be dark on Monday. these days were fixed. Thes times were fixed. People did not mind the shedding, infact planned their life around it!

This not only saved power for the city, it also promoted conservation.

Delhi is a world city with all amenities for whoever can afford it. It is much easier to be staying in South Zone than in the North or the West or even the East. It is better to be in Delhi than in NCR. However, we, as citizens, can do nothing but seethe for service not delivered or delivered with a scowl or any variation there off.

We, in this global city, do not have a load shedding schedule that we could follow. The power cuts are random, not evenly distributed over the entire state and infact, may not trouble a sector simply because it houses the affluent or the babus of the government. These areas may infact be the highest consumers of the power!

There are areas here in Delhi- NCR that go without electricity for upto ten hours a day! Randomly. Senselessly. If we call the help line numbers, no information is forthcoming.

Can we take a lesson from better managed towns and think of something similar for Delhi?