It has been raining all day, the damp winter chill creeping into my bones. I only landed in Delhi three hours ago. The best thing to do is watch TV in bed under the blanket, but when I turn it on it just hums and buzzes, the screen looks grey and misty like the weather outside, I try to press all the buttons on the remote but can’t get it to work. I try to set things up for the coming months, jotting down ideas and lists in my diary, but soon the power goes out and my little world goes black. I can’t remember seeing a window in the room, I must be right, I’m blinded by the darkness. I doze off into a dreamless sleep, as if I had fallen into a black hole. A long and dizzying fall. I don’t know how much time I spend in total hibernation, but I wake up to the sound of the generators starting up, as if an old film was about to start. The music rises slowly, after being unbearably out of tune for a while, then the rhythm settles, a melody builds, and even though the sound cracks and black lines and spots flicker on the old film, I recognise it, I’m here again. India 2004.
English