It was one of those hot summer nights. I was sitting with my son, helping him with his homework—trying my best to keep pace with his Gen Z sharpness. Honestly, sometimes it feels like I’m competing with him, but I secretly enjoy the challenge.
Suddenly, click! Darkness. A complete blackout. To make things worse, our inverter was away for repair. The fan stopped, the lights went out, and silence took over.
Breaking the quiet, my son asked with wide-eyed innocence:
“Dad, why this power cut? Who stopped the electricity? Why can’t we have it all the time?”
I smiled at his curiosity. His questions were simple yet profound. I began:
“Son, electricity doesn’t appear by magic. It is first generated, then transmitted across long distances, and finally distributed to our homes. But the amount generated is limited. On hot summer nights, when everyone turns on their air conditioners, the demand shoots up. When demand exceeds supply, some areas have to face power cuts.”
He nodded, but I could see confusion written all over his face. Time for a better analogy.
“Okay, imagine this,” I said. “Your mom cooks dinner every night. Normally, there’s enough for all of us. But suppose some unexpected guests arrive—your uncle’s family, for example. Now, the same food must be shared among more people. We serve them first, and then maybe you, your sister, and even I don’t get enough. That’s a blackout for us.”
His eyes brightened. “Oh, I get it now.”
But then came his next clever twist: “But Dad, if food runs out, we can still eat bread or buns, right?”
I laughed. “Yes, exactly! That’s like our inverter or battery backup—it helps us manage when the main supply is down. But imagine we forgot to buy bread. Then even the backup won’t help. That’s what happened tonight.” Our inverter is out for repair.
He grinned, now connecting the dots. The fan began spinning again as the power returned, and the lights flickered back on. But instead of relief, he looked at me with more curiosity.
“Dad, I want to understand more about electricity.”
That night, under the shadow of a blackout, his curiosity had been sparked. And I promised him: “Don’t worry, son. I’ll teach you everything I know.”
✨ A blackout gave birth to a new light—the light of curiosity in a child’s mind.