The village of Geer in Madhya Pradesh is about to undergo the simplest of revolutions. After 25 years of being told electricity is coming, it is finally here. After sunset we cant do anything so we sit in the darkness. The children cannot study. We go to bed early, says Chotelal Gupta, who runs the nearest thing Geer has to a shop. It is no more than a cupboard really, selling sweets and biscuits. But in the last few weeks Gupta has started to stock lightbulbs as the villagers wire up their homes.
A small crowd of villagers stand around the transformer for the big switch-on. This is India, where no such moment can happen without a few prayers, the breaking of a coconut and the burning of incense. In the absence of a local dignitary they turn to me to do the honours. It reminds me of my wedding; I had no idea what was going on then either.
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