Thursday, September 20, 2007

An experience to Last a Lifetime!

Friday was one day that I will not forget for a long time to come...
As most people know it had been raining like crazy for a couple of days last week here in Bangalore...
On Friday, since most of us were going home for the Ganesha Festival - we left office early - because of the predictions that it would take 2-3 hrs to cross Hosur Road - which was mostly under water...
So, me and another friend we set off at 2, hoping that we would reach home by 5 at least...
(I will call my frn S here...)
But, our bus got stuck in Traffic half way thru Hosur road and the driver tried to turn the bus back to Electronic City.
So, most of us got down from the bus and started walking, hoping that we would get an auto.
But, as luck would have it, there were no autos and we just kept walking with another lady, who was very anxious to get home to her baby...
When we were nearing our destination - the Silk Board Junction - we saw that the rest of the
way was flooded and that the water levels kept raising. We decided that we would keep walking and cross the flyover...
Little did we realize what we had gotten ourselves into...
The water was a mix of rain water and drainage water (yuck!) and the water current was pretty strong...
The 3 of us held hands and started crossing the road to get to the flyover...
In the middle of this were a bunch of good-for-nothing guys who were splashing the dirty
water on everyone and calling out obscenities!
The water was knee length and we managed to cross the road... without any mishaps.
We walked over the flyover and then managed to get an auto for our destinations...
The worst part of this was - none of the cars were stopping to give a ride - at least to cross
the damn water... The police were not being very cooperative with anyone who complained
about the bad behavior of the boys who were splashing water...
I also learnt that a little bit of courage will take one a long way and that my friend S
was not someone who would back-off in times of adversity...
I also know that this might be nothing when compared to the experiences some people have
had with the rain and the floods - but, for the 3 of us it was an unforgettable experience
and for the lady going home to her baby - it was traumatic too...
God did guide us that day and gave us the courage to cross the road - which was not only
flooded, but most of the women were being splashed at or had obscenities screamed at them...
We also saw a bus which stopped right in all that water and the stupid Driver was urging the
ladies to get down in that water - he refused to stop the bus a bit further - on the flyover!
As those ladies were trying to get down, those boys kept splashing water at them!!!
We were stinking by the time we managed to get an auto, but we also felt liberated (I know, it sounds weird) that we did manage to cross without any mishaps...

September 14th, 2007 will always be etched in my memory - for that day - 3 ordinary girls,
managed quite an extraordinary feat!!
(It may not be as bad as getting stuck on the road inside a bus or getting stuck in the office...
Our houses weren't flooded and we didn't lose anyone in those 2 days, but it was an ordeal
for 3 very ordinary girls who had never had such an experience before!)

6 comments:

Swati said...

Dont talk about friday ..it was horrible. I thought of leaving at 5.30 ..to reach early but i reached in 3 hours ...with son waiting at creche

Pixie said...

@Swati: It was horrible wasn't it?
People who left office at 6 reached their homes around 10!!
Hope your son was alright... the other lady with us was so worried about her baby - it must have been a yr old I think...

Timepass said...

I too heard abt the rains and the havoc caused by them. Indian cities (roads) are still not fully prepared to handle such heavy rains..

rayshma said...

u brought back memories of the floods in bbay... 3 of us waded thru water (after being in offc for 2 nights).. and we walked from mahim to andheri... a distance which usually takes abt 45 mins by cab. but yes, ppl were being really supportive there, then...
good to know u tided thru, pixie... tk care!

claytonia vices said...

Our cities have become such deadly traps these days...

There are many stories of people dissapearing into invisible manholes in such floods...

Pixie said...

@timepass: Yea... very true.

@Rayshma: Ugh!! your experience is much worse! but, a helping hand always matters in such cases...

@Vicky: Yea... Manholes - we took a huge huge risk walking in that water....