A recent incident in Patna, Bihar, makes us feel that our superstitious people would never ever transform, since a transformer itself was believed by people to have been haunted by a ghost.
A transformer installed in Shivaji Nagar area in Patna was found tripping frequently and also catching fire several times plunging the entire area into darkness.
The credulous local people believed that the transformer was possessed by an evil spirit. They hired an exorcist to ward off the ghost. He performed bizarre noisy rituals in front of the transformer. The exorcism included drum beats, dances by his followers in red dress and chant of ghost busting mantras. The ridiculous ritual went on for about thirty minutes, but there was no evidence of any paranormal haunting.
The local people said that they sought the help of an exorcist since a mechanic was unable to set right the snag in the transformer. The ritual was rubbished firmly as nonsense by Anand Kumar, the Executive engineer of the North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd. He explained that there could be many reasons for a transformer tripping; a defective connection and overload of power may also cause tripping.
Suspecting a transformer to be haunted by a ghost sounds ridiculous, indeed. In the modern times of technological advancement all around us, such an irrational behaviour of our people is really shocking. Let us hope, this transformer ritual would serve as a transformer of gullible people soaked in blind belief.
