Monsoon mayhem

This is a true story, from an old school friend:

It genuinely was terrible Tuesday. Not in this life had I ever thought I’d see a day like this. I was munching on a samosa in office looking at the rain and commenting on its ferocity… when my colleague called us from thane and asked where we were. I told him we were in office and he lost it. He was frantic when he said, that the weather was giving way and we should rush home before it rendered us helpless.

Oh here it is, we thought, at least once every year, Bombay witnesses that day when naalahs give way and u end up taking hours to reach home, wading through knee deep water.

Smiling, thinking of it as an adventure, I made the biggest mistake of my life and left for home. With a colleague with me, I got an auto and thinking highly of our smartness we took the MIDC road. “Andheri Kurla road is the first to buckle under rains”, we said to each other. Before we even realized where we were going, we found water coming inside our auto and shaking violently! Holy F#$%! We swore and asked the autowallah to turn around, only to land up at Andheri Kurla road. After 20 minutes at one point and the water level rising and the rain soaking us from every possible angle, the auto wallah said, ” I think you should take a bus”. I started fumbling for money, and he said “Jao, abhi paisa vaisa mat socho! Jaldi karo!”

That’s when I realized, as I got down, that the water was waist deep. In 20 minutes flat! The water was ice cold, the current was like nobody’s business. Latching on to each other and blinded by the heavy rain, we stumbled up to a bus, any bus that we could see, just so that we would be safe for a while. The bus moved a little forward, a little more, in about 30 minues. And then we were stationary. The people started panicking; the experienced ones said that the traffic wont move anymore, and the diesel would get over soon. Why doesn’t he just switch it off? I asked foolishly. Coz he won’t be able to start it again, I got the reply.

Some people left the bus and started walking. The water was up till the chest now. By then we had become a group of 2 guys and 4 girls who were consulting each other and deciding what we should do. Just as were mustering up the courage to get down, those who had left came back and said it was suicidal to get out of the bus. Around us, the autos, and then the cars slowly became invisible.

An hour and a half in the bus later, the water was getting inside. The first step of the bus got submerged, then the second, and then the third. Another few minutes it was inside. The guy, Madhu said, we have to leave. We don’t know when the rain would let up. We can all just drown inside. He got out of the bus and looked at me uncertainly. The water was up to his neck. Being a good head taller than me, he said” you can’t get down, girl. You’ll drown for sure”. If I got down, the water would be way above my head. What the hell do I do? A few people who managed to reach me heard my final goodbyes on the phone as I told them I was dying. I just couldn’t think beyond the obvious. Can’t get out, cant stay inside, where the hell do I go?

The others said, “We have to leave”. Oh, I thought, I’ll be staying in the bus alone.

” You have to come too” said Madhu.

” Are you insane! ” I told him.

“We’ll carry you. There is no other way!”

Before I could decide anything, the bus conductor decided for me and pushed me out of the bus. As I hung on for dear life on the bus door and that poor man’s neck, I felt another man come up behind me, grab my waist and life me a little higher. Then, with one hand on one guy’s shoulder and the other hand on the other guy’s shoulder, with my feet dangling inside the water; I was carried for a good 15 minutes. Finally we reached a point where the water was lesser.

“We’ll put you down now, lets see how high the water is for you”

“Can you stand?”

I felt my feet touch the ground and the water came up to my chin. “Yes, I can walk.”

And then there was a journey of 25 minutes where 10-12 people held hands and walked, trying to keep each other from falling, trying to stay alive.

I lost my slippers, which was ok. Worse was the fact that I lost my balance. Yet, caring hands came down and pulled me up again.

I hurt my head on the divider and pain shot through my thigh as stones cut the flesh, through my jeans.

“I can’t walk anymore. I am giving up.” I said tearfully.

“Chandni, you will walk. Do u understand? I’ll give you one slap!” said a girl called Stephanie, who I had been introduced to, about half an hour earlier.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you. Won’t let you go!” said Madhu, God bless him.

And somehow, we walked through all this. The water, the rain, the muck, empty liquor bottles, slippers, tomatoes…I don’t know what all came towards my nose, but we walked.

And finally I saw my office gate where everyone was waiting anxiously. One look at them and I burst out crying. I howled and howled and kept muttering” I am alive”!

All of us, including my new friends, spent the night at my office. There were people everywhere; there was no electricity, no food. And thankfully, no water. People tried desperately to reach loved ones, some managed, some didn’t.

At 5 in the morning, we started walking again. This time, to go home.

I cannot really describe the scene around me; all I can say is that it reminded me of the movie “The day after tomorrow”. Water was flowing by our feet; there were cars, buses, and autos, strewn carelessly all around. On the divider, in to each other. All over the place. There were shoes, slippers, dupattas, wallets, bags, and briefcases, everywhere. And hundreds of people walking, trying to get back home.

I walked barefoot, glad that I was walking at all. At 7:30 am I was finally home.

Never have I been happier to look at my rickety grey, old building.

There was no electricity, no water, no cell phone connections for 2 days, till yesterday. But that’s another story.

Now I know what they mean when they say ‘WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS’!!!