Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1173: WWI: The city of Lights & the city that never sleeps

19th March 1700.

The capital of the empire is bustling with activity, a sight rarely seen throughout the year. The city itself feels alive, filled with movement, colour, and excitement.

The big watchtower is wrapped in beautiful flower garlands and elegant arches, standing proudly over the celebrations. At the Simhasana Bhavana, a temporary programme stage has been set up, while vibrant dancers make their final preparations for the start of the event. The Mahasabha, the Parliament of the Bharatiya Empire, glows under rows of lamps shimmering in shades of gold, breathing warmth into a building usually known for its majesty and unapproachability, transforming it into a true palace of lights.

Near it, the tall statue of Lord Rama and the temple beneath draw special attention. A massive flower, the largest in the world, hangs upon the vigraham, while the entire front of the Lord Ram Murthy is richly decorated with arches, rangolis, and layers of fresh flower garlands.

The citizens of Bengaluru, just like the city, were equally dazzling, wearing unique and ornate jewellery and clothing, showcasing their ethnicity from various parts of the country.

Haritha was a guest invited by her uncle’s family in the capital. Usually, she wouldn’t entertain leaving her home and going out to enjoy or for entertainment, but she had just completed her high school exams and was on a break, waiting for their results. So she thought, might as well go to the capital to her uncles and see what is celebrated in the big city, but coming to the capital, she was greatly surprised by the preparations for the festival. It was as if they were preparing for Diwali itself. Although there is no distinction in their culture between festivals, where all festivals are equally important, she personally thinks that a certain festival is celebrated with more enthusiasm than others.

But she did not immediately enquire the reason with her uncle, like, who does that? So she freshened up, changed to a set of casual clothes, and finally left the room. Her nephew was running around holding a wooden model of the Delhi class battleship and a Raya Imperial R1 car. She ruffled his head with a smile and moved forward.

"Uncle, looks like the festival this year is going to be loud." Finding her uncle, she commented, not directly asking the question.

"Thats natural!" Her uncle smiled from ear to ear and nodded. "It’s the beginning of a new century, a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, so the new year should be celebrated much more enthusiastically, should it not? So it is only natural that the festivities this year are a little louder."

Haritha nodded in understanding, but something did not add up. " Uncle, isn’t the festival tomorrow. Why are the preparations being made as if it is today?"

"Haha, right," her uncle laughed immediately on hearing the question. "I forgot to tell you. Things have been so hectic this time that it temporarily slipped my mind to inform you. In fact, this year we are celebrating the New Year at midnight, which is when we will be entering the new century. It’s sort of like what the Westerners do for their New Year."

" Also," a sneaky glint appeared in his eyes, " see the round thing."

Haritha looked up, and she saw a round glass hanging on the ceiling, held by a rope of some kind. ’ Is it a new kind of decoration? ’ She felt it was ugly, but she wouldn’t say such a thing straight to her uncle’s face. "It’s a unique decoration, uncle, I’m sure you chose it."

The tone sounded a little sarcastic, but her uncle usually could not tell sarcasm apart, so he simply laughed, thinking that his niece was genuinely complimenting him. ’It looks nice as a decoration? Well, maybe. Who knows what young people of this age think looks good,’ he thought to himself. Only then did he shake his head and say, "This is not a decoration, dear. It’s a new invention made by the researcher Anand Binoy, called a bulb. I’m sure it must have been taught in your school by the lecturers or someone."

Haritha’s eyes widened. "This is the bulb?" she said in surprise. She had learned about the bulb in her new inventions class and had listened carefully. It was a light-emitting device that worked on resistance and a high melting point when current was introduced. But wasn’t it an invention that had only been introduced in special economic zones? How had one ended up here?

Apart from illustrations that showed the bulb as a much larger object, she had never seen one in real life, which explained why she could not identify it immediately.

Seeing his niece’s reaction, her uncle laughed heartily. "That’s right, this is the bulb. Last month, the Panchayat sent civil servants from a new department, called the Bengaluru Electricity Department, to our house, asking whether we wanted an electricity line. I didn’t really know what it meant, but since Manju uncle next door and a few others were getting it, and since it wasn’t very expensive either, I agreed. After the installation, they even gave me this bulb as a gift."

"Just this morning, the newspaper boy informed us to install the light and keep the switch on at all times. I don’t know why, but since the people at the Panchayat are spreading news through the paper boys and girls, it should be important, so I had Mani (helping hand)install it."

Haritha was left in thought, but then her eyes glistened. She had a premonition about what was about to happen, and it left her restless and excited.

"Oh ya haritha, we will be going to the 7th Street for the night, so get prepared," looking at her casual attire, her uncle informed.

Haritha nodded and dressed in a traditional Punjabi attire, albeit without the dupatta covering her face. Over the years, the empire had drilled it into every child that there was no need to cover oneself in the guise of culture or religion. This initiative was not welcomed by the older generation, but, unfortunately for them, it had been introduced by the Empress and backed by the Emperor himself and was implemented regardless.

Several decades after the initiative was first brought forward, it had become extremely common to see girls from various ethnicities and cultures wearing their traditional attire without a veil covering their faces.

There is even a trend in some communities where young women have started to wear traditional clothes in a more revealing fashion, like showing off their stomach and the like, but that is a different matter altogether.

Haritha, along with her uncle’s family, which consisted of her nephew and her aunt, finally arrived at 7th Street. The 7th Street is like the city centre for their layout. It is a wide circle with four lane roads connecting each other from four sides, with a large coniferous tree over twenty metres tall growing at the centre of the street.

She saw a temporary stage installed on the street, and she vaguely saw various children and adults preparing for their performances.

"ahh hari!"

Her nephew cried out, pointing at a little kid. The little kid, maybe he heard the cry of her nephew, turned back and waved with an adorable smile, looking endearing in the Hanuman makeup.

’So all those people are from the layout itself?’ She came to a conclusion.

It was around 6.30 in the evening, and it was getting dark quickly. She looked around, confused, not understanding why the lights were not turned on yet. But she didn’t have to worry for long, just as the minute hand hit 6.45, the street lamps lit up with a dazzling brightness. The people exclaimed, because the lamps were brighter than ever before, much brighter than the kerosene lamps that were first installed, or the gas lamps that were installed after.

It immediately caused a huge commotion in the crowd, with exclamations heard now and then, but the houses were still in the dark, so they did not think it was a big deal. They thought the lamps were upgraded to a newer model, but Haritha, looking at the bulbs wrapping around the tree and hanging in front of each house, waited in anticipation. She was extremely sure that something big was about to happen, and so she was restless.

The programmes started around seven in all the streets where the people gathered across the city.

Women wearing Manipuri dresses sang traditional Manipuri songs, while others danced to the rhythm. Men in Rajasthani attire sang their folk music, and the people danced to it with the same fervour as they were dancing to the Kuthu music of Cholapuri. As the melting pot of the empire and its thousands of cultures, Bengaluru was so vibrant that one would mistake it for a movie set. Haritha momentarily put aside herself in the dance as well, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Finally, it was approaching midnight, and she didn’t know who started, but people started counting.

"30....29.....28.....27...."

It was only one or two people at first, but as the numbers became smaller, more and more people began to join, and she was among the people as well.

"9....8...7...6...5...4....3...2....1"

"Happy Ugadi!!!!"

As soon as the people shouted, something amazing happened out of nowhere. A dazzling array of lights burst forth from the tree, lighting the bulbs in a warm golden hue. The entire twenty-metre tree looked like a giant, twinkling spiral of stars, as if it were a cosmic tower reaching into the brilliant night sky.

But that was not all. Every bulb that had been arranged and hung across the ceiling lit up at once, causing the crowd to burst into loud exclamations of awe. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Oh my god!"

Even Haritha, who had mentally prepared for the moment, was left momentarily out of breath by the sheer intensity of what she was experiencing. It was so beautiful and so mesmerising that she raised both her hands and screamed at the top of her lungs. Her nephew ran off to dance with his little buddies, while her uncle and aunt were busy hugging each other, but none of that made her stop. She quickly joined a group of young people dancing to the dhol beats of Satavahana.

High above, floating in a hot air balloon, a photographer clicked a picture at the exact moment Bengaluru came alive.

Far into the future, that very photograph would be etched into history as one of the most important images ever taken by humanity, a picture of electricity lighting up an entire city in a warm, golden glow.