The newspapers reported that Bombay (Mumbai) had not seen this much rainfall – more than 950 mm – in the last 100 years !!! 

Some of my colleagues spent over 30 hours just trying to return from office to their homes, that Terrible Tuesday of 25th July, when the rain gods decided to express their unhappiness.  The local train network shut down.  Flights were suspended.  Road traffic reached unimaginable levels.  After hours of struggling, thousands of people simply left their cars in the middle of the expressway, and walked away!  Two days after that, the city’s public bus service reported 900 buses “missing”.

Luckily, I had taken leave that Tuesday, and was at my window… watching the rain… thinking to myself that this looks far worse than that mandatory “one day a year” heavy-shower when life comes to a standstill in Bombay.  But my sense of relief was shortlived.

The next 3 days and nights, we spent without Electricity.  No mobile phone, no television, no microwave, no fridge… No newspaper (the distribution network was down)…  no news about the rest of the world.  Soon, there was also no water supply in the house (the pump works on electricity too, you know?) 

There was just me, my family and some candles for company.

I tried to spend the days as constructively as possible.  Spent some quality time with the family.  Wrote a long letter to my daughter that will give her a glimpse of the values I cherished, after I am no more.  Got back to some cooking (by candlelight!) and enjoyed some quiet dinners (by candlelight, again!).  All in all, it was a good experience.  Humbling, in some ways, to realize that some folks have spent their entire lives without ever experiencing the joys of Electricity in their homes!

On Friday, when we all went back to our workplaces, every one had stories to share about the torrential monsoon that disrupted their lives.  Mine was that I spent 60 hours without electricity or water.

Adversities, like the one that struck Bombay that Tuesday, are always great learning experiences.  Small problems get exaggerated.  Infrastructure that is already bursting at its seams, becomes woefully inadequate.  People’s selflessness… and selfishness… comes out in the open.  So, while some people are busy “stocking up” on essentials like mineral water and vegetables that will last them a month, others are out on water-logged streets, distributing tea and biscuits to those who are still struggling to make their way home.

Subsequently, the citizens of Bombay learned that the city is supposed to have a World Bank funded ‘Disaster Management Plan’ in place since more than a decade –  no one has seen it yet!  Dailies reported that local politicians seem to have gone missing from their constituencies – common folks are still looking for them.  A bunch of filmstars and tv personalities got together to file a Public Interest Litigation against the local administration – to make the officials more accountable…

But, for millions of Bombayites, life simply goes on.  Sure, today is another wet, soggy day when schools have been shut down and offices will not see healthy attendance.  But, tomorrow, the city will go back to its mindless routine.  And, while the journey home that Tuesday will be the topic of conversation for some days more, it will soon fade away to become a distant memory.  Intelligent, educated citizens – like myself – will simply shrug their shoulders and go back to living their lives.  None of us will invest any time or effort in ensuring that this experience does not repeat itself.  After all, betterment of our future is the government’s job, right?

What a world!