Tiger Reserves and AC/DC
Posted by Rahul Panicker
I was hoping to see a tiger. But the only indication that we were in a tiger reserve was a huge sign welcoming us to Achanakmar Tiger Reserve. We were in the heart of Chattisgarh, about three hours outside Bilaspur. Our destination - Bamni, a tribal village a few kilometers within the sanctuary. Navigable roads were hard enough to come by, let alone electricity. So you can imagine our surprise when Komal and Elyse spotted a mud hut with a satellite dish antenna sticking out.
I ask our driver to stop the jeep, and go poke around. ‘Koi ho?’ (Anyone home?). A boy, about 13 years of age, steps out. Golu looks at me just as curiously as I look at the antenna. I peer into the courtyard and spy a few solar panels laid out, charging some LED lanterns. Golu proceeds to explain to me that the government provided these lights and panels. I press further. Surely, the government didn’t also give them a satellite dish? Nope. That’s them. So, they have a TV? Yes, it’s inside. Golu invites me in. It’s mid day, and the house is pretty dark. But I see a truck battery charging. Great. But I don’t see any more gadgetry around. The engineer in me is curious - something doesn’t add up.
You see, a truck battery puts out 12 volts DC. A TV needs 220V AC (what you get in the mains). Most homes that have battery backups manage this conversion with a device called an inverter. It costs a few thousand rupees. I don’t see anything of that sort here. Instead of asking more questions, I ask Golu if he could set up the TV. Of course, happy to. Out comes a 15 inch TV. Black and white. There are wires dangling from the back side, and Golu proceeds to hook it up to the battery. I’m still puzzled. Where’s the inverter?? I peer at the backside of the TV. What I saw was sheer brilliance! The TV’s entire internal power supply unit had been ripped out, and in its place was a hole with two wires coming out.
What does the power supply unit of the TV do? It takes power from the mains and converts it to a level appropriate for the TV’s electronics. Which is what? 12V DC. So, instead of converting DC from the battery to AC with an inverter, and converting back to DC with the TV’s power supply, they’d just bypassed the whole process. Brilliant.
And as I’m still taking this in, he brings out a speaker system. And a VCD player. Gingerly ties together the wires, carefully matching polarity. And pops in a VCD of ‘Karan Arjun’, a Bollywood block buster starring both Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. A black and white image appears on screen with the duo dancing in a quarry, music blaring. All of sudden, heads appear near the courtyard. ‘Cinema?’. Neighbors streaming in for the film show. My economist friend was right. TV clearly is a public good.
Another example of the famous Indian Jugaad. Another engineer in the making. Incredible India.