When It Rains…

At the second cybercafe I went to today, the owner told me that he’s chosen to shut the cybercafe down until 15th August (India’s Independence Day)…the police have become more vigilant. Customers are expected to note down identification details before sitting down to surf the Internet, given the security situation around Independence Day. The police is levying a fine of Rs. 5000 for every incomplete entry (Name, temporary address, permanent address, identification number, phone number and signature). There’s no point asking “students” at Delhi University for ID proofs – they have affiliations with one student union (with political affiliations) or another, and can get violent. “I’m damned either way,” he says. “If I ask them for details, they threaten me and don’t give the details. If I don’t have the details, I’ll be fined. So I’ve shut the cafe down for a week, and so have many others in this area.”

It rained in Delhi five days ago, and I’m told around 400 landlines in my area are down. The MTNL linesmen needed to take permission from the municipal corporation to dig up a certain area to fix the connection, but getting permission takes time. Should be up tomorrow. At the same time, my Tata Indicom wireless connection is giving me an average speed of 8kbps (or 1 kBps) of an expected 150+ kbps, though it occasionally shows signs of life. So, I did a round of cybercafes, hoping to get at least some work done. At the first cybercafe, the connection was as slow as the Indicom, and genuinely not working. At the third cybercafe, also closer to Delhi University, the owner looked away when I asked him if I can surf the net. “Net is down,” he says. By when is it expected to work? “Not until after 15th August.”

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