The writer recalls a childhood memory of hiding in a coal storage room, using it as a lens to trace India’s shift from coal-fired cooking to gas stoves. Coal was messy and polluting but affordable and practical for large families, while gas stoves were initially seen as modern yet risky and expensive. Over time, as urban homes grew smaller and incomes rose, gas became the dominant cooking fuel, valued for its cleanliness and convenience despite supply constraints.

Today, hundreds of millions of households rely on liquefied petroleum gas, many supported by government subsidies aimed at reducing indoor pollution from coal, dung, and firewood. However, India imports most of its gas, much of it routed through a strategically sensitive waterway. Rising global tensions and sustained high oil prices signaled by futures markets suggest that energy costs may remain elevated, likely pushing up the prices of cooking gas, petrol, diesel, and food.

Rather than assigning blame for global conflicts, the writer argues that the crisis highlights the urgency of reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels. Renewable alternatives, particularly solar power, offer a practical path forward. Solar panels paired with batteries, solar cooktops, and even simple solar box cookers can reduce household gas use. With supportive financing models such as pay-as-you-go plans and targeted subsidies, wider adoption of solar cooking could ease economic pressures while lowering pollution and carbon emissions.