Nightmare

Any Mumbaikar will not forget the date 26^th July 2005. I am one of them. I was at Ahmednagar on an office tour. By afternoon I came to know about heavy rainfall in Mumbai. I decided to cut short the tour and return to Mumbai. It was decided to travel to Pune and then to Mumbai by bus. Travel till Pune was good however as I was moving towards Mumbai rains outside seemed to be getting horrifying and came to know that there was cloudburst over Mumbai. By the time the bus started to descend from Khandala, it was absolutely dark outside. The only light that was seen outside was frequent lightning followed by thundering.

We crossed Khopoli food mall around 8 PM. I was hopeful of reaching Mumbai latest by midnight considering heavy rains. Suddenly an unusually loud sound was heard. There were landslide few meters ahead of our bus. I saw a few people running back crying and shouting. The bus became standstill. It could not move further as debris was so huge that it had blocked the road completely. Suddenly the water level around the bus started rising rapidly. It was decided to drive the bus reverse. Somehow bus was driven to the food mall. There was no water logging at the food mall and the place looked fairly safe. Fewer people were there at the food mall. There was no network coverage on my cell phone. Connectivity with the family, outside world was totally lost.

There was no choice was but to wait there helplessly. A tea kettle was kept outside by the food mall which was being refilled regularly without charging a rupee to anyone. People were having tea intermittently to keep themselves charged. That night seemed too long. All at the mall were behaving like one family. Talking to each other, caring for each other. Few were telling stories while others were listening quietly. All at the food mall were desperately and eagerly waiting for daylight. Rains there were moderate but we knew the situation in Mumbai was pathetic. Around 9 AM it was decided to drive the bus to Mumbai, from the opposite side for a few kilometers patch due to debris on one side of the road. Somehow we reached Mumbai by afternoon. On both the side of the road, even on the road only one thing was seen, WATER.

Many people would have experienced similar situations. This calamity left me with long-lasting memories and life experiences. Right from food mall till my destination the next day I saw all the people around me were equally worried, equally caring, equally supportive keeping aside their status, ego, cultural differences, cast, and creed. I still wonder why only calamities can bring all of us together?