The City Finally Slept

Its sad to come back to blogging with a long blog entry like this, but then, could not help it as some politicos piss me off no ends!

The one thing that has held me in good stead in Mumbai for the past 2 years I have been here is the fact that the city and I share a common philosophy: Never Say Never.

Unfortunately, that spell was broken today for the first time to my observation. The whole of last 10 days have been not so great for Mumbai, what with the first spell of showers in this years Monsoons. They did expose the underbelly of the city and how prepared it was for the rainy season. Well, not too well I must say. I was on vacation at Delhi, and the moment I landed in Mumbai on the morning of July 3, 2006, the plane splashed straight into a Puddle!

Life was disrupted, and then some more. It was a replay of last years rainy season afterall. But the citizens got the better of it by trying and keeping life as normal as possible. Hell yeah, why else would people step out of the comforts of their homes and push the envelope to get to work. Why else would the BEST run buses in knee deep water as long as they could help it?

But then things have to wrong sometime and somewhere at least. Mumbai was excited about the Football Worldcup finals. All the papers and my inbox were full of offers and invitations to go watch the match on the big screen somewhere etc. The day was planned out well, meet long lost one friend for breakfast, recieve another one at home sometime later, and then go out for a movie in the evening, and then the Big Match. Little did I know there was trouble brewing in the heart of Mumbai.

Someone made mischief in Dadar with the Statue of Bal Thakarey's Wife and the Shiv Sena Matriarch, and the entire Maharashtra Erupted! The entire episode seemed to be too non-sensical to me. There is no sense of restraint in the politically motivated it seems. If there was one fool taking a calculated risk in desecrating the bust, he or she knew that there were going to be enough fools to take the bait and go out and create lots of trouble for the city and the state of Maharasthra at large. And it happened!

Came back late last night after catchin up with a few pals at a pub, and so woke up late [Wokue up, went out for breakfast, back and slept] and out of tune with the news around me. A friend told me in the afternoon about the fact that there was rioting and some kinda curfew in the city. nevertheless, we planned a movie for the evening, after which i decided i shall head out to town and go watch the final match on the Big Screeen at the Taj President's Trattoria.

But things were not meant to be. Turn on the TV and all the channels are full of news about how the Sena and its supporters have moved around the state and created nasty scenes. Tell me, how does burning down a bus or hitting the police with stones make up for your so called loss? I have never understood the funda of how someone's loss could make up for someone elses loss? And there were these politicos, making irresponsible statements on TV like " They are just expressing their anger against the miscreants, This was bound to happen" Hello? If you want to express anger, demonstrate. Don't make a loss situation!

So, the day changed! I stepped out of home, and the whole of Andheri was empty. Shops were shut down! The usually active BEST also pulled the plug on bus services in the suburbs as a precautionary measure. I hunted down a Rickshaw to go for the movie, but almost getting there I was informed about the dropping of the plans ... and I gingerly asked the same guy to take me back home, as I did not want to be stuck in a tense situation in the city. The Football plans were as a result called off with apologies and a promise to make up with tank fulls of draft beer to the ones at loss ;)

On my way back home I noticed huge groups of Sena activists around someplace in Andheri. Now has the State lost its spine to not be able to control an "Unlawful Assembly" of people? Well, apparently, they want mileage from all of this to be able to fight back after their losses of Narayan Rane and Thakrey Nephew. For all you know, they might have planned and executed this feat themselves, to get some news coverage... considering elections are around. And this theory is now being talked about by the papers too. Click here to figure out what ToI has to say on this.

Any country's stature on the International Arena is today dictated by its Economic and Economic Stature alone. And just while we are finding our feet as Bigwigs on the International Arena, here we are with the commercial capital of the country shutting down shops, shutting up work at the Airports and causing unnecessary tension in the City for no good reason. Imagine the loss to shops which actually make their buck on a weekend more than a weekday. The Coffee Economy, the Restaurants, and all the other fun joints. DNA says that over 200 Crore Rs. were the opportunity loss for one day! Too Bad!

To take the leap into being the world's springboard of ideas and economic importance, we need to be teaching our generation and the ones next in line the lessons of economic independance rather than the difference between various Communities that exist in India. After all, you and me work together to make this country better, and no community works at cross purposes!

The politicos gotto learn their lessons and losen their grip and get the Manmohans and the PCs to run the country the way they want to. And not cause grief to everyone by pushing away the reforms agenda further from the country everyday.

my 2 paise!

A good beginning to the End of telecalling

I was roaming around the ICICI Bank website to check out the damages for the month, when I noticed this : http://www.inuonline.com/dnc/donotcall.asp. Finally, I wont have to get an irritating phonecall or 2 or 3 a day from ICICI Bank or their agencies trying to pitch me a credit card when I already owe them quite a bit of money ;) so nice of em!

for once, if they mean it, god bless them!

Why not ME?

Last night I was tuned into TV till late night and flipping channels. Something caught my Eye on technology, it was airing on NDTV Profit. One of our biggest success stories of TV journalism was into a discussion on PCs, iPods and the warez. And he had that look on the face that every one at 1 am in the morning should have - Zonked. It was going all over his head :)

Their I wondered howcome they left out on a person like me to do a show like this. After all, if the (late) Devang Mehta could do it, so could I.

anybody listening?????

aj

When the God of rains and Bacchus met (I was thrown out of the house!)

Its really been one of those leisurely sundays i have looked forward to for so long, and so for once, thanks to the rains. Serious!!! Ever since I have returned from my Delhi trip /Vacation, there has really been really too much of work happening. Saturdays were full day works mostly and sundayused to either go off sleeping or out on the roads.

i had a long wait last night at the airport.. waiting for an afternoon inbound flight from Delhi to land. Trust me, for something supposed to come in at 15:15 hours, it landed only 00:15 hours... All thanks to the AI fiasco. The Airport Authorities (or the lack of them??) actually managed to get a whole big Jumbo 747 - one of those big huge things to get off the runway. And then they blame the pilot for it. I take his side for managing to avoid a disaster.. or maybe he just got lucky!

So they tell me the plane was roaming around up there for an hour or so for no reason but a landing slot. Maybe we could look at getting our most frequented Airports - Delhi and Mumbai a facelift. There are days when I have travelled between the two, and there is absolutely no place to sit, just good enough for passengers of say, one flight to wait! And they do like more than 10 flights take off per hour atleast (conservatively!) ?

Today was a late day... Woke up late only to realise that the rains had already dismissed my plans for the day! Made a couple of calls to confirm the fact and then it was just chill chill just chill. A lawyer in the making called, raving about the facilities at the country's best Law School - NLSIU. Coming from a family of lawyers, I did know of them :) but not so much than after I heard out the entire description.

The day was sleep and laze! Not too much on the phone, like I usually am these days, and not too much of the Internet too. Went out for lunch nearby and came back drenched in the rain. Later, watched a movie (XXX2), not so gr8, but a good timepass. A walk to the market ensured I stocked up some essentials. Kal ho na ho is the spirit that holds these days! And everyone better be safe than be sorry then!

Back home, the guys had plans to drink. The poison for the night was going to be flavored Vodka! And much as much they told my bro to drink, I was told to be out of the home so that I could not see the happenings ;). And me and my big mouth!! I told them to drop me off wherever they wanted to! Considering that they were already on their 2nd or 3rd drink by now, they got into full action! I was picked by my arms and knees and taken till out of the building into the parking lot till I was brought down on earth again !!! He He! But all done in good spirit.

Coyote Ugly, on of my favs was airing tonight, and I managed to get to see some of it. But now that all of that is done, time I went to sleep.. I dont know if I am supposed to go to work tomorrow but then, no one else knows too!

The Day after Tomorrow

Okay.. I was planning to have some food and go to sleep, but an old friends call kept me awake. I am thinking, and while I am thinking, I thought I might as well make good use of the time to tell you all about the rest of the happenings. The 27 hours of grit were over, but the next few were about to start now.

As i entered home on Wednesday evening, I realised there was some more real Reel life stuff happening. the first one seemed to be a scene from a thriller or a horror flick. as soon as they open the door for me at home, i see a single solitary candle flickering in the middle of the room, and there were all the guys and girls sitting around the candle on the couch. it seemed they had all come together for some kinda black magic, or like one of those ceremonies they talked of in The Da Vinci Code.

Prabh, Siddharth, Sachin and Anshuman (my flatmates!) were all there already. all of them had reached at different points of time, and all had their offices closer to home than i did. Also there were Sonali and Supriya, next door neighbours and the owners of the solitary candle. All the talk was about the same stuff that seemed to have engross all of India for the past day or so.

No candles in the market, and we supposedly had the last 3 bottles of bottled water from our neighborhood store. The candle burned out, and we were left groping in the dark. The night seemed endless with only a torch-cum-FM reciever to help you make it through the night. The rains were slowing down but the red skies made us believe it would be going on full throttle again. And we took some good piece of advice.

All of us managed to eat something to survive. The water was too contaminated to even think of cooking Maggi in it, and there was no way we were going to order food from a restaurant.

It was one of those times when talking each other out was the only way out. Being one of those ground floor residents, we took adequate caution. Just incase we were about to float, we'd be ready to run. And the run would come easy when we had our most precious belongings on us. So, the iPod joined the mobile phone(s) and the laptop and other important documents in the bag that held me in good stead in these testing times!

I took calls from home on mobiles offered to me,with full charge from the office of people who were lucky to have them nearby. They were the only ones updated on me. I did not want to spend precious charge on others waiting to hear from me, who all were, i never even knew as of now.

Dropping off to sleep in a windy and dark night, I prayed to God that He'd see me through this. And he did. Next morning was clean, but the power supply was still cut off. I did not have to go to work, and hence, I carried on in bed. Woke up around noon, and by late afternoon electricity was restored.

Maggi seemed to be survival strategy. To get some cash, I walked to the nearest ATM .. which was predicabaly shut down. All of them around home were. My legs were killing me but cash, or the lack of it might have posed problems ahead. So, I took the bus to the station and hunted for a working ATM there. Lucky for me Citi had got its ATMs up and going, but the silly problem was there was not enough cash in there. It showed the grand amount as funds in waiting. So, gingerly I had to fish out another ATM card and withdraw cash from the bank, give them some service charges too! After all, they were the only ones holding me in good stead in times of need!

Apocalypse - Blink(ed) and Miss(ed)

It aint the first time I got stranded this time. This past twelve months seem to be the year of strandings.. First the one at Tirumala in October '04, then the one at Delhi Airport in Jan'05 and now the Mumbai floods. But while in earlier instances i had to make a choice between thinking and switching off, the past 70 hours have been surely some of the most thought provoking and thoughtless times I have had at the same time. While the thought went out for everyone near and far, hoping they would all be okay and accounted for, when it came to myself, there were times when I was just acting on what others had to say, numb to my own thinking.

Its surprising how the media finds an adjective to describe every day of the week with a dark gloom adjective. They have given us Black Thursdays & Fridays, and now it was a Terrible Tuesday. It is as if they have taken it upon themselves to make the gray look black and the sky blue look dark blue. Highly uninspiring and uncommendable.


Tuesday in the rains
My plans for Tuesday, 27/07 was to leave office a little early, and I was looking forward to it. Monday was a long day and I needed a little rest and lots of sleep. And as per plan, I left early, but not because I wanted rest, but because I did not want to be stuck at office. As news spread that Western Railways was shutting down train services, the knee jerk reaction was to leave. I packed my bag. Ashish (My colleague at work) and me both started out for our trip to Andheri at about 4 pm. I planned to take the train, till I was snubbed and told to wait for the BEST AC bus.

I called up a friend, who is my regular source of information on trains and railway line situation. Once at the bus stop, we finally managed to get into the first bus and get going. In the process, got drenched too! But nevertheless, I was hoping to reach somewhere near home in the next 4-5 hours. Some kind of sense for the madness ahead told me to preserve phone battery. so off went the Reliance phone and I survived on Orange as long as possible. Only that their brand promise of wherever you go, our network follows, failed that day. The network survived as long as i was in the town, and vanished as soon as we entered the suburbs... lucky for many though, it did help a few people on the bus to reach their near and dear ones. and it was long enough for me to keep in touch with my family in Delhi, who were still intent to land in mumbai lock stock and barrel on Thursday. Alongside, call up as many friends as i could and tell them to stick back in office or wherever they were.

Hopes of reaching home by midnight were soon dashed. 2 hours down we were 3 km away from the station, and then the traffic was so bad, that it took us 2 hours to cross a stretch that was as long as a local train platform (outside the Charni Road station, for those who know!) People were already contemplating a walk to andheri, and borivili too. In fact, the tracks were full of people who were striding northwards.

It was already around 9 pm by the time we hit the Peddar Road and worli Sea face ..It was going bad already. The periodic updates on the FM stations told me all about the power cuts that happened, and then about the waterlogging in the suburbs.

My contention: if the government agencies cannot do good work, why not privatise it. Go 92.5 FM was far better in providing news and updates on the chaos around than AIR FM. Why not just let the private channels double up as new channels too. Why let it be the monopoly of the staid ol AIR? Not only did the Radio Jocks play messenger, they also kept the spirits high. Hats off to Malini and Nader... I heard them for 2 nights consecutively. Though i missed Jaggu and Tarana on the morning show, considering they aired, only shows their determination to be a part of the good work.

Anyways, the crowds were getting restless all around. cars and cabs, bikes and bicycles, buses and AC buses were jostling for that inch of space they could move further in. So, at 10:30 i was at Prabhadevi, opposite Siddhivinayak temple, and from there, it took me until 11:30 to reach Shivaji Park. all around, eateries were open and doing roaring business, and all of us were just so so hungry! The bus stalled at mahim, and a lot of helpful people pushed the bus till it started up again. But BEST had proved itself to be the BEST. The drivers and conductors were doing all they could to get people to their destinations. About 2:30-3 AM, i landed up at Linking Road. I had blinked, and so, I did not know how did the journey from Mahim Causeway to Bandra look like. All I knew was there were a lot of faces full of hope and lots full of despair around me.

Never Say Never - The Spirit of Mumbai
These were testing times and showed the two faces of the city and its inhabitants. While airtels and reliances were floating around for people who wanted to make that one call, there were people who were stuck to their seats and snoring away to glory. No thought for the guy standing in the aisle for the past 10 hours! One office gang was worried about their kids at school, and there was this office couple who were comforting each other that everything would be alright. One old man sitting next to me hopelessly tried calling home. He'd pull out his mobile every fifteen minutes, switch it on, see the "Battery Low" sign and try dialling a number. As soon as he'd try, his phone would say battery empty and konk off. I gave him my phone after every attempt, and i just don't know if he got to make that call or not.

one generous gentleman seems to have had faced such a rain jam before, knew how to tackle it. Or so he thought. Around the charni road station, he bought loads of biscuits and distributed all over the bus, topped with bottles of water. Thanks a bunch if you are reading this!

i usually take a long time to get comfortable with people, specially strangers. But this long night had taken away that inhibition from me. i talked left right and center... Trying to make them feel better and feel better myself in return. And if you have nothing to offer, offer humor.

twelve hours in the bus without food or water or movement, made me want to go down the bus. And getting out of the airconditioned cabin was a shock and an eyeopener. The driver and conductor were catching a nap, and so were some non-passengers on the steps. and the same was the situation outside, all vehicles were just parked.. as if they were all abandoned. all the movement that could be seen was a solitary chaiwalla with his wares shouting "chai chai chai", and the conversation people made amongst themselves when they were walking. Yes, they were all walking their way upwards. I came back and woke up Ashish. It was time to go. Where? we did not know, but sitting there for so long was not helping either.

Water Water Everywhere, not a drop to drink!!!
A few hundred metres ahead, it seemed that the sea had come for a visit. Linking Road was blocked with water till as far as you could see. So we walked back, cut to SV road and walked there. But things were no different. And then, we saw it again. water was all over. there was no electricity. power supply was there till bandra, and now, all of a sudden, it was dark, it was cold and it was watery. A heavy bag to be supported on my back, and some papers which silly me carried in a polybag on hand, and the umbrella and then a tiptoed walk on the divider. God help me. But then, graduallyyours truly came back on the road, and then water came ankle deep. Following Johnny Walker's advice, I kept walking. With my leathers on, the next destination had knee deep water. Wading our ways, the next draw had more in store. Milan Subway was truly a rendition from Godzilla. Others correct me to say it was a scene from War of the Worlds. The flick was not the concern, the submerging cars were! Here are a few pix, just in case...

The morning After
Walking all the way, 5:30 in the morning saw us hit the Vile Parle end of SV Road where we tried to go to the Juhu Versova link road. We came back after having a look. the Next left turn was the same. We were advised not to go in as it was chest deep water. so we came towards the station, and then we started again to juhu. this time we were in luck for a while. till we went into the waters again. i was gonna go back, but then ashish had already taken the jump. so i followed. this was one of those thoughtless moments i was talking about in the beginiing of this post. i was wanting to go home but i snubbed the thought and i followed!There was no emotion left in me. I was numb.. .and sometimes physically tired. But there was a force driving me, that of the pillars of my life. I knew nothing too much could go wrong.. now that the night had passed, but it was a matter of time before the ordeal ended. There was no tension, only tiredness.

another hour or so and we reached dryland. though the walk in the day had showed us a lot more than it showed in the night. kids were being escorted back home. there was panic and there was hope. people were making last ditch attempts to get their cars out of the waters... and takingthem a lil far away and abandoning them. the sick side also showed up. there were cars broken into .. and stereos taken away . some cars were afloat and the tyres were also gone. and then there were also others who might have dragged away the whole car without anyone watching. saw some of those fishy characters too. and i kept wondering, in times of disruption of law and order, where the F$#k were the cops? why the hell were they not on the roads and helping people.

it was his aunt's place. it was end of part one of the tirade and it was 8 am in the mornin already. his uncle had still not returned. we were given clothes to change and food. i slept like a log and woke up only for lunch. then i managed to get across a call to home and was told about the dropped plans. so much for comfort. then, a lunch, some talk and a midway abandoned game of scrabble later, i decided it was time to move home. God bless them all for everything. And Ashish, thanks buddy!

so back into the soggy clothes, it was part II of the journey starting. the auto rickshaws outside were not working. the few whcih were, were fleecing ppl like crazy. so i started walking again. checked out the ATMs. none were working . and then there was this group of people coordinating traffic. so they asked me my destination and put me on a car. Its called a Forcelift. They dropped me near the station and it was a long walk back home. 5 to 7 o clock i walked again, this time not in water, but in mud sometimes. for all the daily cursing i do on andheri kurla road for choked traffic, it was a surprisingly calm and VERY clear day. NO traffic at all. i saw the marol school wall which had gone down... it took 14 lives with it i am told.

and after the two hour long walk and lots of memories later, i was home. No electricity, No water.. but then all of that is saved for the next post!

All of this was an eye opening experience, one which i wont even wish for my worst enemy. But then, nature is a great leveller. and it taught a lot of lessons. of passion and compassion, of humility and will to help. God Bless all those who suffered, and those who were saved!

right now i get back to filling up myself with a pack of Kurkure on a hard earned leave from work! May the force be with us.

P.S. Some Picture Links I got from Kaushal's Blog are here: Malad Link Road and OK Smile Please