From Hurricane Lanterns to LED Lights: A Village Family’s Journey (1980–2026)!

 In 1980, A small village, surrounded by green rice fields, soil roads, ponds, and rows of small houses. In that village, a lower-middle-class family lived: a grandfather, a grandmother, a father, a mother, and three siblings, uncle. There were many members in the family. But it was mainly my father and uncle who earned the money, and at the end of the month they had to make almost a living to cover the family's expenses. As evening fell, the atmosphere at home would change. Mother would light a kerosene lamp in the kitchen. And the father would carefully clean up the yard near the hurricane, and the eldest son would sit in a corner of the yard in the yellow light of the hurricane and do his math. The girl would read a book, and the little boy would listen to stories from his grandmother, and the smell of rice would waft from the kitchen. Sometimes you could hear the sound of the rice pot lid being opened. If one day the kerosene ran out, everyone would have to face problems. Mother used the last bit of kerosene carefully. So that both the dinner and the children's education can be carried out There was no electricity at home, so I relied on a hand fan on hot nights. Amidst the mosquito infestation, reading in the hurricane light, the boy's eyes would close for sleep, even he himself wouldn't know when. Yet there was no lack of joy in that world, During Durga Puja, brothers and sisters wash and clean old clothes. If father, could afford to buy a couple of new clothes, it would bring a festive atmosphere to the house. In the evening, everyone in the jail would sit together and eat, sharing the khichdi, curry, and kheer cooked in  handis, and no one would remember the poverty.

                                       Time moved forward.

In 1990, started out as an electricity pole on a village road, and one day, a wire was strung along the side of the house. Curious villagers came in large numbers to witness the scene. When the first light bulb went on in someone's house, the neighbors would come to see it. The light from that small bulb seemed to awaken new dreams in the minds of the villagers. But electricity didn't reach everyone's homes at that time. Some people's homes were lit up, while others relied on the old hurricane when night fell. Even if electricity came, it would take a long time, but people held onto hope, maybe one day every home would have light.

                                      Time moved forward.

Then, around 2000, the eldest son of the family started going out in search of work. Gradually, electricity came into the house, then a fan and a small television. Grandmother watched in amazement as people seemed to talk, sing, and share news from inside a box. For the first time, television had become part of the family’s evening storytelling sessions, bringing the outside world into their humble village home.

                                       Time moved forward.

The year 2015 came, the youngest son in the family learned to use a mobile phone, making it easier to study, work, and connect with distant relatives. The importance of electricity began to increase, the phone had to be charged, the TV had to be on, the fan had to spin, without electricity, many household tasks would have been hampered.

                                     Time moved forward

Now 2026, The mud walls of that house were replaced by brick walls. Electric lights are on in the yard, fans are on in the house, and the whole family is reading the news on their mobile phones. Grandchildren study online, while the elderly grandmother sits on the balcony and watches the evening light.

One day, the grandson asked his grandmother, "Grandma, how did you survive without electricity when you were young? "Grandma laughed softly and said, "Back then, I would read in the light of the hurricane, fanning the air with my hands, which was very difficult. "But we all used to sit together, now there are more people, more facilities, but when the electricity goes out, you become restless, darkness was normal for us. The grandson was silent for a while, then said, "Then leave it in the hurricane, one day you will burn it and show it to me. "Grandma took it out of the old dusty box, and holding it in her hands brought back memories of her childhood, Mother's cooking, father's hard work, sisters' laughter, and that yellow light in the small house That night, the electric lights in the house were on, the mobile phone was charging, and the fan was blowing, yet the whole family sat around the hurricane for a while.

      Because they understood its 1980 to 2026 journey Not only has the light changed, but people's lives, dreams, and opportunities have changed. But the love of family, the joy of being together, and the value of standing by each other in difficult times remain the same today.