Humanity In The Deluge

Stranded by torrential Mumbai rains, these commuters found safe haven with a large-hearted family.

- Deepak Dharmarajan

Waking up, I looked at the grim overcast Mumbai sky, thought a bit and then decided to go to work after all. This was two years ago, when I worked at my bank’s headquarters at the Bandra Kurla Complex. As I travelled from my house in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, the rain kept advancing along the 50-minute commute on the bus and local train. I reached office quite smoothly, but a few hours later, our phones started buzzing with news of flooding in various parts of the city.

Looking out of the window, my colleagues and I found that the steady drizzle had grown into a downpour, while gusty winds whistled through the streets. Though no one spoke about it, we got a bit nervous—none of us in the city have forgotten that July day in 2005 when Mumbai faced its worst floods.

At about 12.30 p.m., after an alert from the municipality, the bank let the staff leave early.

Some colleagues, who had already left, called to say that they were stranded—train services had been stalled and there were no buses or autorickshaws available either. At the office lobby a senior colleague, R. K. Kularay, who happened to live in Nerul, offered me a lift in his car. I agreed happily, since it would have been foolhardy to walk into the driving rain. We were joined by another colleague, Arvind Rampuria, and a vendor, who also hopped on.