It was the next day of our team building event, on which we exulted playing games and having no worries about work/projects. The rains which started on monday never stopped and by tuesday evening we all knew that things are not going to be smooth.
Reports started flowing in saying that some areas are hit by the rains. We immediately announced a day off and asked each and every staff to go home. By that time, the rain was at it’s peak and started to show nature’s strength. One by one, we were getting isolated from the outside world. First, it was our network. Our network link was down, then the landlines cut off. Even the mobile networks were jammed. Some of us decided to stay back. We worked as a central point of communication for the stranded office staff. Some of them were only able to reach half way home then. We arranged food for those who stayed back and the ones who decided to come back. Meanwhile we managed to get our networks partially up using a very slow internet connection ( Something is better than nothing !).
By 10 P.M., the Cable TV network broke down, and our slow internet connection too. We continued to talk to our fellows through mobiles ( Mobiles worked sometimes …) and made sure that everyone reached home. Then we had a little nap on the tables in office. By early morning , we had only one car left with all of us to go home. We decided to give it a try. The scene outiside was shocking. There were abandoned vehicles all over the highways, all the roads were filled with muddy water, some vehicles were even moving along with the flow of water. We clenched to our seats when our car was moving through the high waters. Sometimes, the waterlevel raised above the tyres and I could hear the roar of the engine.( It sounded like ” i am going to die”…) . I couldn’t even think about what I could have done if our car stopped there. Finally we got home only to find out that, the electricity also cut off. We were too tired of the efforts, we just fell down to the bed and slept, we did not even talk, my mind was blank, just blank that I could not think about anything.
I got up by 8:00 am and called up all my friends and family and informed that I am safe. My brother stays in Thane with his family. He informed me that water is doing the damage over there also, but they were safe. Then the bad thing happened, All of our mobiles drained out of charge and we were totally isolated from the outside world within minutes. We cooked some rice, ate and slept again, as there was nothing left to do. In the evening I felt a cool breeze on my shoulders and it took some time for me to realize that it’s the fan. I was overtaken by joy. I jumped up in my bed yelling to my room- mates, “bijli aayi , bijli aayi”. We charged our mobiles to full and started calling up people. It was only a day without communication, but it felt like talking to them after a very long time. We were getting calls too.
Our office declared another day off ( Thursday ) . We went out to the street and had some Vada-Pavs as there was nothing left at home to eat. By noon, some shops were open and we bought some rice and other things home. Someone called me and informed that the death toll was still rising and there were landslides and explosions happening in some parts of mumbai. I was getting calls from home and friends continuously and that made me really confident. We went to my flat in the evening to take my laptop in the hope of getting connected to the net. I know, internet doesn’t seem to be a choice of the occation, but that was the only way to get some news about what’s happening. We were able to connect to net using the telephone line ( Oh.. Telelphone lines were fixed by that time.) . We went to some news sites and saw the devastation that happened to mumbai.
Today, I am back in office..everything looks fine. Everyone is talking about how it affected them. But it’s good to see them smiling… the smile which says it all..
I am proud about “mumbaikars”… for their “never-say-die” attitude. It’s this willlingness to go on is what drives this city forward..
🙂
