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Up until this last week we would loose power every time it rains. Not just our house, but nearly the entire Kalyani Nagar region. The power outages usually lasted a few minutes but many were for an hour, with a few lasting up to six hours or more. My roommates and I have watched nearly every movie in the theater because it is really the only thing to do when the power goes out! The worst is when there is no power in the morning because that means no hot showers. I have adjusted to cold showers though.

One time we realized the power was out at home so we decided to just camp at the office. We finished a large part of our project by 6am, returned home, slept, and then returned to the office later that afternoon. These past couple days the power has been fairly consistent during the evenings. My roommates told me these lengthy power outages were pretty uncommon while at their colleges and they were surprised how often it was occurring here in Pune.

There were news stories of large floods in Mumbai last weekend and even some deaths here in Pune due to collapsed walls. We have had quite a bit of rain but overall the roads aren’t terribly bad other than being muddy and occasionally slightly flooded. On the way back from work in Hadapsar to Kalyani Nagar the other day, we experienced a slight transportation failure. Our rickshaw’s wheel fell off! It was a new experience for all of us. We heard a loud THUD followed by a scratching sound as our rickshaw skidded to a stop. The axel on the front wheel had literally snapped and cars, bikes, and busses honked as they flew around our disabled rickshaw. The roads were very muddy and it was dark but we decided it would be best to just start walking home. Luckily, we caught a new rickshaw after 10 minutes. Pretty funny!