Seeing the present crisis unfolding as regards the shortage of cooking gas and fuel for vehicles, I have been transported back to the 1960’s. As a kid, I would join the long queues outside fair price shops with my mom, waiting for sugar and kerosene. The mystery of those serpentine lines lingered, till my mother would excitedly announce, ‘stocks arrived’! We would rush to grab our monthly quota—5kg sugar, 10 liters kerosene for a family of six! Often, the shop would shut down in the middle of the month. The ‘Lord of the shop’ would secretly sell it all to the highest bidder, leaving the people with empty hands.
The fuel situation in India up to the 1990s was characterized by severe scarcity, long queues and a slow transition from traditional cooking fuels to LPG. Kerosene was the primary fuel for the masses while LPG (gas) was a luxury, and petrol expensive and often rationed due to global oil stocks. Of course, there were not too many two wheelers and four wheelers per family. In those days, the ‘primus’ kerosene stove was a staple in city homes as a replacement for traditional wood chulha. Those were the days of waitlists for gas connections, kerosene stove dramas, and the prized Nutan stove smuggled from Delhi for its fuel efficiency.
I remember the ritual of pumping up the pressure stove, the thrill of pinning and pruning the wicks just right, and the occasional burst of flame when it got too pumped up. Severe shortages were common particularly after the geopolitical events that like we have now, wars in the world or wars with Pakistan, forcing families to rely on limited rations. Those were simpler times amidst scarcity. Of course, most of it being man-made then and even now. No political support or sloganeering, no electronic media interviews and no social media platforms, but I learnt only to understand the situation and act.
In the 1970s, gas connections were a luxury. We had booked one, but years went by with no sign of it arriving. That was when we moved to Dehradun, and it seemed like our wait would continue indefinitely. But fate had other plans—a friend working with ONGC, freshly transferred to Assam, came to our rescue. ONGC employees there enjoyed domestic piped gas connections, and ‘gifted’ to us what was his. For years, the connection stayed in his (or rather, his father’s) name. Then one day, Cal Gas announced an amnesty scheme for ‘illegal’ connections—pay a nominal fee, and we’d be the legitimate owners. We jumped at it, and finally, we had our own gas connection.
Word spread, and suddenly I had a fan club showing up at my place in the evenings, it wasn’t my charming personality, though—it was the petrol they were after! I would ride their two wheelers to the pump, get them filled, sometimes switch between different stations to avoid detection. The petrol attendants never suspected a thing! Those were crazy times, and I am pretty sure those days won’t be back.
India is managing the current scarcity due to the war; it is a tough situation. The government assures there is no immediate fuel shortage risk, with sufficient crude oil stocks and increased LPG production. With the government monitoring the situation closely, the prices are stable for now.
Read More: India LPG Cylinder Shortage: Check Today’s LPG Prices in Delhi, Noida
