My first encounter with the very popular Mumbai rains. Every year I, like many others watched on television with fascination with mumbai monsoons and how people are straddling their way through waist deep water. Didn't know that I would also be doing the same thing in a desperate attempt to go home and get some sleep.
I threw my mammothian bag out the door before the train could start moving and got off the train from chandigarh at the andheri station and looked round.. Home sweet home! People running everywhere like usual, the announcements which indicated the arrivals and departures of the churchgate and borivali locals. The platform was wet and raindrops fell from the roof on my t shirt, so i carefully shifted a little on the inside to avoid my clothes getting wet. Called for a porter since there was no way I could have dragged that bulk of a bag on my own up the stairs and then down and then squeeze through the maddening crowd, all trying to get home or get wherever and also manage to beat so many others to an auto rickshaw. Was humid and drippy everywhere but wasn't raining too much. Reached home, met my landlords, had tea, screamed and hugged and met my roomies and then after unpacking and getting ready, off to work.Kept looking at the glass panes and the water pouring through whatever was visible between the blinds and wishing I was out there. After nine hours, I could finally go there an get wet all I wanted to. Before I went downstairs, I approached the glass panes and stared down at the Mithi river flowing wild as if going after a prey. Some vehicles in the parking lot downstairs had fallen over.. no knee deep water was visible though. So despite advise of many colleagues that I should stay at work and not try to go home, I - the successor of Alexander the great decided I wanted to go home and sleep and would do that no matter what. So the cab started, covered about 60 metres before we arrived in knee deep water and deciding there was no way the cab was going beyond that without getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. I sat and waited for the driver to change his mind. Then he asked me to take the next bus that comes along. I thought.. Hey! I braveheart am going to walk home. Thus began the odessey of 2 hours.. the journey which takes 10 minutes by any cab.
As I walked the water level rose inch by inch.I thought aaaah! my new hidesign bag!!!! But well I couldn't do nethin about it getting wet, i flung open the umbrella.. which kept my hair dry if nothing else. :D people all around on the road, cars/bikes/buses trying to turn around and take some other way. Policemen, civilians were helping people around, standing with sticks to see if there where potholes where anyone could trip and directing people away from them. While i trudged some people asked me "Madam where do you need to go? Find a place to stand for a while and then go later". I thought, well okay let me do that, A policeman looked at my desperate expression and offered to lead me to the petrol station ahead where I could wait for a bit and then move on. He held my hand and started walking, I was trying my best to keep up with his speed in my skirt which was cutting down on my speed (grrrr! couldn't i have work my jeans!). Thankfully I was wearing my 50 buck chappals from linking road, not leather sandals. We reached there and he asked me to wait there for a while. okay, did that for about 5 minutes. But people around me where going ahead towards the same direction I had to walk. Why should I be standing here then? I starting walking too. the water level rose, was in water waist deep. There was a hospital there and the doctor was also standing outside and making a video with his handycam. He advised me to stand on the stairs and let the rain slow down. I did. Every time a bst bus drove down the road at a speed of abt 10 kmph.. which was the highest anyone could have achieved there, a huge wave arose, hit the pavements and splash 6 feet up in the air.Whoa! I was shit scared to start walking now. If another bus came while I was walking I would drown! So I chose to stand there for eternity while also getting impatient and thinking 'I wanna go hoooomee!!'. :( After a while the same policeman who had led me to the petrol station came there. He looked at me and said you are still here? I said yes, how can I walk here? He said okay come let me lead you till there.. he was referring to the place where water level was hardly covering the feet. So he held my hand again and I trudged along.. he realised my nice 50 buck chappals were cutting down my speed and asked me to take them off. I very carefully took off one so that I dint lose it somewhere in the water.The second one came off my foot before i could reach it and I thought nooooooooooo don't go away, and before I could think more, the chappal was floating near my knee :D, so picked it up and there we go again.He left me there and asked me to be careful ahead. I am ever so thankful to him. I dont know what his name was but he helped me a lot and I wouldn't have reached home had it not been for him. If you ever read this.. the chances aren't even one in a million, but Thank You Mr. Policeman! From there I started again, pebbles hurting my feet and some stray plastic bags annoying my feet while the water pressure gave me much needed exercise. But that was hardly a concern.. I wanted to go hhhoooome! A short woman smiled at me as she was also trudging along and joined me. The water level was rising again. The water which was thigh level for me was more than waist deep for her. she kept chatting with me, that was distracting me from the effort 
I was having to put in, so good enough. The water level sunk again and reduced to about ten inches.. slowly and after much awaiting I was home! My nice landlady made me some tea, I took a shower to get rid of the filthy dirt that was all over me and changed into my nightdress and took the blanket which was lying unused for ages. My food was here and yaaayy! hot yummy aloo paranthas - puurrrfect! Once I finish it I slip into bed pick up my book, read about 5 pages and then drift off into a nice cosy sleep that this whole ordeal was for :)
Hats off to this city that I now call home
Love,
Devil's Own
Back after months! :)
