Power cut way back in the 1990s was a part and parcel of lives.
We have had our fair share of cuts too. Power cuts were for families time to spend together in the light of a single candle, for students to bunk studies.. for dads freedom from some tele serial etc.. Power Cut for me was the best music teacher i ve ever had.
We lived in a lane.. a housing colony kind.. with few houses that were noisy and lively like ours.
Power cuts were when we used to all get out to enjoy the moonlight and the family opposite to ours came out too.. and we all enjoyed the gup shup. Last time i talked bout Mahesh.. this time the hero is Manoj annu.. elder bro to mahesh..
He was the singer in our lane..
very famous for his voice, p.js and his insincerity towards nythin n everything.. [no offence meant].
When power used to fail us we all used to get together under the moonlight.. me n bro on our wall.. manoj annu mahesh n etc on theirs.
and there we used to sit cracking jokes and stuff laffing away in the dark..
only our voices gave us away..
One day the singer in Manoj annu couldnt stand the quiet and there in the darkness erupted his one and ever fav song.. "Uyire... Uyiree... ennai unnodu kalanthai vidu...." and slowly joined the back ground and back up..
It was quite eerie to others..
All they could see was darkness.. nothing else moving.. and only drags of Uyire.... floating through the air..
It was one of the most fantastic times in my life... i learnt the science of sound travelling faster and longer at night..
and even now whenever theres a power failure the first thing that comes in our minds is Uyire...... though the voices have faded away.. the memory lives..

I have heard people still avoid that part of the lane after dark.. and especially during a power failure.. lest they wanna hear the song playing itself in the darkness...