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
1 comment:
Good start! Keep blogging!
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