Valmiki Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur.
08 – 08 -2008 ; 8 pm
I switched of all the lights in my house at 8 pm and set out optimistically down the road. There were two flats in my apartment which had lights on. I turned left and watched the lights go off in the house right next to mine. I smiled and kept walking.
As I kept walking, I saw that there were many houses which had not switched off their lights. When I crossed an apartment, I saw a few flats which were pitch dark and others with the lights on and the television blaring. In most places, even if the people switched off the lights in their flat, the porch lights were kept on. The street lights too, were kept on.
A campaign towards making people aware of global warming and take a step forward to do our bit to save Mother Earth had requested the Chennaiites to switch off their lights on Aug. 8, 2008 at 8 pm for eight minutes. It was called ‘The 88888 Chennia Lights out’ campaign initiated by the Exnora International. I had gone on a short walk to see how the public took it.
The roads weren’t as dark as I expected. The road on which my apartment is located, was darker than usual, but the people living in the nearby streets didn’t seem to be very cooperative. And I must not forget to say that I also saw a Reva, a battery car, parked near an apartment building. I hope this person who drives an eco-friendly car had switched switched off all the lights in his flat!
On the whole, in the area in which I live, this campaign did make a difference, but not as much as I expected. The streets were darker yesterday than on ordinary days, but the difference was not enough. Let us hope the 99999 Chennai Lights out will get better results. Curious? Check out – http://www.88888.co.in/en.html .