Tafe Power
The Great TAFE Power Brew‑Up – Director’s Cut
A tongue‑in‑cheek lab report that doubles as a camp‑fire yarn
Prologue – The Brief That Short‑Circuited Tuesday
Chennai, 10 a.m., humidity 113%. A neon Post‑it slid across the KRDS table:
Brief
- Lightning‑fast on 3G
- Brand red everywhere, no freelancing hex‑codes
- CMS so simple my periappa can post Diwali deals
The ceiling‑fan immediately dropped to half‑speed, the router started blinking SOS, and [Chief Alchemist] declared:
“We sell power, yet our site runs slower than a government lift. Let’s bottle a megawatt into a megabyte—no excuses.”
Cue thunderclap, city‑wide power‑cut and one traumatised rubber chicken.
Act 1 – Enter the Lab (Brief → Action)
With laptops charged (thanks, UPS) the KRDS squad clocked in:
| Cast | Role |
| [Chief Alchemist] | Spots opportunity in every outage |
| [Lead Code‑Spinner] | Keeps calm, debugs on instinct |
| Judgemental Office Plant | Droops at bad commits |
| Bottomless Filter Coffee | Revives heroes, stains lab coats |
Mission: convert that three‑point Post‑it into a site that loads before your thumb leaves the screen.
Act 2 – Mixing the Potion (Work in Motion)
- Scouting the Pitch – WordPress tried out, showed up in jogging bottoms, got benched.
- The Big Toss‑Up – Next.js strode to the crease; Strapi padded up at number two.
- First Over – TAFE Tractors design atoms went in; tractor‑green morphed to power‑red faster than you can say “reverse‑sweep”.
- Strategic Time‑out – next‑i18next enzymes bubbled; the brew now spoke four languages without breaking a sweat.
- Death Overs – Vercel switched on the floodlights; bundle trimmed to < 750 KB—lighter than a leather cricket ball.
Throughout, chai flowed, jokes flew, the plant stayed eloquently neutral.
Act 3 – The Test Match (Proof of Value)
| Session | Ball‑by‑Ball Highlights |
| Morning | Time‑to‑First‑Byte: 0.4 s – a searing bouncer |
| Lunch | Lighthouse climbed to 94; QA cracked 42 jokes, morale 100% |
| Tea | Simulated Diwali‑night traffic; site stood firm like Dravid on day five |
| Stumps | Bounce rate dropped 38 %; dwell time became a full chai‑sip and a half |
Notable wicket: one rogue 404 caught at slips and marched off quietly.
Act 4 – Victory Lap & Post‑Match Presentation (Transformation)
Launch day arrived with—of course—another Chennai blackout. Pages still loaded, forms still posted, and a startled intern yelled,
“Is the server running on coconut water?”
Scoreboard
| Metric | Before | After | Net Gain |
| Avg. Load (4G) | 4.8 s | 1.9 s | +60 % pace |
| Bundle Size | 1.8 MB | 0.75 MB | –58 % baggage |
| Languages | 1 | 4 | +300 % reach |
| Stakeholder Smiles | 2½ | 9¾ | Off the charts |
[Lead Code‑Spinner] raised an empty coffee mug; [Chief Alchemist] christened the build “volts‑per‑pixel”. Even the office plant managed a perky leaf‑tilt. Industrial thunder had finally met digital grace.
Epilogue – Safety Data & Next Experiments
Handle with Care
- Ground yourself before touching Power Icons—static may trigger unsolicited genius.
- Never feed the design‑system after midnight; scope creeps faster than fuel prices.
Upcoming Trials
- AR Spare‑Part Visualiser – alternators deserve their own slow‑mo replay.
- IoT Genset Dashboard – voltage stats between overs.
- Dark‑Mode Dynamo – UI as bold as filter coffee at 2 a.m.
Curtains fall, lab benches wiped, chai replenished. On to the next over!
