I always land up sitting next to someone weird when I travel. It always happens to me. This time I was seated next to someone who insisted on reading whatever I was reading. I read the newspaper by glancing at the headlines long enough for people to believe that I am literate and then settle down for the funnies or important announcements about Bollywood personalities like their breakups, public spats etc. I was about to do that when my fellow passenger growled, “I have not finished reading yet.”The voice was stern enough to make me fall in line like a lamb. I patiently held up the newspaper in the same position until my hands ached. He was a slow reader for sure. After what seemed like hours he huffed and indicated that he was done.I am easily intimidated. I folded the newspaper and handed it over to him with politeness of a golden retriever.“Why don’t you read it first? I will catch some sleep.”“There is nothing to read in that paper.” Before I could announce my agreement, I heard him snoring.I hated myself for being so adaptable. I was able to adapt to all kinds of … speaking of adapters … I had forgotten my bag of adapters. Yes, I do carry a bagful of them when I travel. I knew my trip would be ruined.Remember the old nursery rhyme, “… one for the master, one for the dame, and one for the …” It is the same with adapters. The new nursery rhyme should be, “…one for the laptop, one for the phone, and one for the …” Some hotel chains are notorious for giving you only one power outlet and then to add insult to injury, you will discover that the television and table lamp are drawing sustenance from the common power outlet. You can either watch television with lights on or you can charge your phone in the dark. I have made those choices. It is hard to live below the powertyline.Every country has come up with its own version of electrical outlet designs. Why is it so hard for all those who design electrical adapters to come up with one common design that works in every country? Each time I walk into the hotel room and stare at the power outlet and wonder if we have met before. The adapter is a combination of dots and dashes like the defunct Morse code. Here is how it works.Some countries need adapters that are basically made up of the dots – like the ones we have in India. Some work with two pin plugs and some work with three pin plugs. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. This saying does not apply to the land of adapters. If you have a three pin plug and the wall outlet has one less dot to encourage you, you are not king (or queen). You are simply stuck.Then there are some countries that have three dots in a row in the power outlet. Some have two. You thought that is straightforward, but no it isn’t. Some outlets need fat pins and some support thin ones. India is one of the last bastions of fat pins. The size zero adapters are more popular these days.Besides flat pins, you also have flat pins – different versions of it. They could also be thin flats or fat flats. And then they may be placed at an angle. What makes it annoying is that every phone, every laptop and notebook is trying to create its own identity by adding and subtracting dots and dashes to craft new power adapters. Look at the array of products just one company has created and you will know what I mean. <click here>. The adapter is not one that has to adapt, it is me!Isn’t life complicated enough without having to worry about the electrical adapters as soon as the Immigration officer lets you off the hook?If John Lennon were to write the song Imagine, do you think there would be room for one more stanza?Imagine no adaptersI wonder if you canNo need to lug a bagfulAs many as you canImagine all the peoplePower outlets just like ours…You may say I’m a dreamerBut I am not the only one——————-Join me on Twitter @AbhijitBhadurihttp://youtu.be/yRhq-yO1KN8