Yesterday's downpour in Mumbai brought back the memory of 26 July. Anyone nostalgic?
The day and all the events are still so vivid.
Morning was as usual with some clouds but no rain. I and Brother went to college.
I reached Kalina (Kurla) around 1 PM to collect my Mark-sheets.
By the time I reached, it had started raining.
Well, nothing unusual!
When I left in an hour, heavy rain drops were ready to make holes in umbrella.
I took the bus and thought I will be reaching home in 45 minutes. You keep raining!
And as soon as Bus reached near Sheetal Talkies, all vehicles stopped. None of them were moving.
Half an hour passed... I'm thinking it will clear out in few minutes.
45 Minutes... Everyone is sitting in the bus. I see people walking on the Road, in water.
What do I do? 😕
Then I decided to walk till Kurla station. It was not far, few minutes walk.
As I step down the Bus and keep my feet on Road, I feel the water.
It felt as if I'm obstructing a River who is in hurry to reach somewhere.
I joined others who were walking on the road towards Kurla station. Station was across the road.
I stand there and see couple of people trying to cross the road on their own. They fell in the water.
Okay I see the station and I can't even cross the road.
Now everyone was holding hands (remember Saakali) to cross the road and couple of people standing on the other side to pull us out of the water.
Alright, it is almost 5 PM, reached Kurla station; 💪 Woohoo and No trains, so much crowd...
Damn, what does the indicator say? No Train.
Everyone is waiting, let's wait for some time.
None of the mobile services were working that time except for Reliance. Those were the days of Reliance Blue Screen Mobile Phone😂
An hour passed, then some people were started walking home. I had no clue. How do I go?
Can we walk on Railway Track please? No, Vidyavihar track is flooded.
Only way is to go via Chembur by road. That's awesome.
Ghatkopar is just 10 minutes by train😳
Fine, I just want to go Home now.
In middle of all this, there was a random guy who offered me to stay at his home. I'm like Dude, I can't make it even worse. Get lost ! Well, It didn't sound this rude, I was polite. I couldn't afford any negative vibes in middle of this crisis. 😈
Started walking towards Chembur, still raining heavily. Oh my mark-sheets... I collected them just now.
Kids are playing in dirty water; Cauliflower was flowing; then there is gutter water mixed; I was walking with half body immersed in that WATER.
It was dark now. Finally, I reached Somaiya and then I felt relieved.
Few more minutes and there is the station.
But it had to get more interesting. Few people were coming from that direction and I asked him how is it there? They said, water is 5ft high. Maybe First time in my life, I felt or say realized I was SHORT.
5ft 8ins - I could have tried walking.
Now what what what... I want to cry. 😰
I see PCO and call home to tell them I'm still alive. Mom says, Bro has also not come yet. He must be walking somewhere else.
Then I ask people on road, how do I go to Ghatkopar. They said, come with us, we will go from Highway. There won't be any water logging.
To reach station, we passed from Garodiya Nagar and again Water till Waist.
Vehicles immersed in Water completely; Trees are fallen; There is no way to know if it is road or gutter opening.
Hey it was lightening as well. God, I can't be dead here, they won't even get my body.
After walking for hours, I reached Ghatkopar station at 11.30 night.
Now home is only 2kms. Shall I walk? It is too dark. I'm tired.
What do I do? Stand on the station and leave in the morning. So many people are here.
Then, I heard, Females can stay at RJ college. Yeah, let's do that.
I stayed at college that night; slept on a chair; woke up at 6.30 morning.
I can walk now... 💃
I'm walking and still tired with last night's Walkathon. I see a Bike and ask for lift.
He gave me a ride.
Bhagwaan Bhala karein | Thank you Thank you...
Finally reached home and asked my Brother, how did he come? Supposedly he as well reached Ghatkopar station around the same time as mine and he came home. He walked from Govandi via the same route that I took.
Couldn't you find me?
People left their Bikes, Cars on the road; Stayed on the road, Stations.
First time Mumbai had no electricity for 2-3 days. Railway took 2-3 days to recover.
Remember my mark-sheet :(
No electricity no Water... And Mumbai was drowning in Water
You must have a story of 26 July. How can you forget? Remember and Share...
And, most importantly you have met Humans that day !
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