Last weekend when I got home, I saw my parents cooking in the kitchen with few lights on. Bewildered, I reached for the switch on the wall. Mother stopped me, saying that we were running out of power.

The meter showed there were only five points of power left for us. The day before, both my parents had been at work so they had not been aware that the power was running low. On the weekend they could not go and pay for more. Therefore, we would have to stretch the remaining five points of power until Monday.

With all my gaming, songs and movies to catch up on over the weekend, I could not help but feel resentment toward my parents for their lack of foresight.

Mother urged me to go and take a shower in case the power should go off. I had no choice but to follow her order. The bathroom light was still on when I was showering. I was finished and getting changed when the light suddenly went out. What little light there was in the room was that from the street. Struggling to dress properly in the dark, I could barely see my own fingers.

When I came out of the bathroom, a candle-lit table greeted my eyes. It was laden with my favourite dishes, which were giving off mouth-watering smells. Father, Mother and I sat down to a candle-lit dinner.

The ambience in the house was warm and cosy. Although there was no Internet, no TV, no Wi-Fi, not any other electronic devices working normally that evening, I had a special feeling that I had never experienced before. I felt I was closer to my parents than to my smart phone that very evening. On a typical weekend night, each of us on a digital device, we never get to talk very much.

So, as you can see, my reader, the power cut turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It created a quality family evening. Sometimes we need to run out of power to be close to our family, not only in physical distance but also in heart.