"We'll find out the reason and see that such kind of things are avoided in the future" is not exactly a reassuring quote from the head of India's Power Grid Corporation.
"I do not have all the answers as to how the failure occurred but I do know that we cannot simply band-aid over what ever problem is found. The root of the problem is not what part of the system failed today but the system itself. "
"Instead of delivering essential services to expand business and strengthen the private sector we have unfortunately created a power delivery system that favors only the constituencies of the political parties in our states. Power regulations are fragmented and compliance is difficult. We must urgently pursue reform in the same way that we reformed the license raj back in 1994. We must not let this crises be an excuse for inaction. The people of India deserve more. We must tap into foreign investment and our politicians must not fear change and reform."
http://biolitestove.com/homestove comes to mind. Not a complete solution, of course, but any means of generating electricity is handy in such situations.
No doubt this was an inconvenience to people trying to get to work on the metro, and the number affected (300 million) is staggering, but all the same:
About 40 percent of Indians, or 500 million people, lack electricity.
40% do lack electricity but that does not mean all live without power. The problem in India is that ability to produce enough electricity for all. Hence, people who can afford use generators etc. which nowadays are not that expensive for middle class.
I see the joke you're making, but if you want to actually apply that humorous scenario to reality, what you have is a week of lost work, probably without any adjustment to the actual delivery date.
So, quality of software is gonna plummet in two weeks.
