Rains have been following me everywhere. First, Baroda and now Bangalore. It has been raining cats, dogs and every other animal in Bangalore and other parts of South India since the weekend.
Today, I was happily plonking away at my keyboard at work, while people around me ran helter-skelter and started leaving for home. Yeah, the rain outside seemed a tad on the heavier side, but I didn't think anyone needed to panic. It was just rain after all. Then came the announcements via smses by the Police Commissioner that "due to heavy rains/water logging, drain system is badly affected. Trees have also fallen. There are traffic jams on most roads. It was advisable to return / stay home." Hmmm. That seemed serious then.
But not to me! (I heard enough about it from Ma, so don't any of you start!!) I've survived heavy rain before, even floods in Baroda. This was not such a big deal. Ha! Most people seemed to just melt away. I was left alone with a couple of more colleagues. They lived close by and so they didn't worry about getting home. We finished up our work and at 6 PM, I was ready to go home. The rain seemed to have abated a bit, but water flowed all over the roads and umbrella in hand, I splashed my way through to the car park.
What follows was totally nightmarish! The drive back home was harrowing and what normally takes me around an hour took almost five hours. As it is, we in Bangalore are struggling with pathetic roads and bad traffic conditions and the incessant rains made things much, much worse. The roads were flooded with water, at some places around 3-4 feet of water. The water was so deep at one place that it actually entered my car. At other parts, the traffic just wasn't moving. Not an inch! Two hours wait at the Kormangala - Ring Road junction. The traffic cops just kept diverting traffic. At one point, I was so close home but the cops said that the road ahead had been closed and diverted me again. Another long wait in the traffic pile-up. At one point, I just wanted to abandon the car and walk home. Anyways, inched my way with the traffic and reached home at about 11:00 PM.
Ma was waiting with her danth (scoldings) and hot soup. Some warm food in the belly and I was as good as new. Well almost! It was time to catch with others. Almost everyone had a tough time getting home but were all safe. October 26th!! Will remember this experience for a long time.
Time to tuck in...
Today, I was happily plonking away at my keyboard at work, while people around me ran helter-skelter and started leaving for home. Yeah, the rain outside seemed a tad on the heavier side, but I didn't think anyone needed to panic. It was just rain after all. Then came the announcements via smses by the Police Commissioner that "due to heavy rains/water logging, drain system is badly affected. Trees have also fallen. There are traffic jams on most roads. It was advisable to return / stay home." Hmmm. That seemed serious then.
But not to me! (I heard enough about it from Ma, so don't any of you start!!) I've survived heavy rain before, even floods in Baroda. This was not such a big deal. Ha! Most people seemed to just melt away. I was left alone with a couple of more colleagues. They lived close by and so they didn't worry about getting home. We finished up our work and at 6 PM, I was ready to go home. The rain seemed to have abated a bit, but water flowed all over the roads and umbrella in hand, I splashed my way through to the car park.
What follows was totally nightmarish! The drive back home was harrowing and what normally takes me around an hour took almost five hours. As it is, we in Bangalore are struggling with pathetic roads and bad traffic conditions and the incessant rains made things much, much worse. The roads were flooded with water, at some places around 3-4 feet of water. The water was so deep at one place that it actually entered my car. At other parts, the traffic just wasn't moving. Not an inch! Two hours wait at the Kormangala - Ring Road junction. The traffic cops just kept diverting traffic. At one point, I was so close home but the cops said that the road ahead had been closed and diverted me again. Another long wait in the traffic pile-up. At one point, I just wanted to abandon the car and walk home. Anyways, inched my way with the traffic and reached home at about 11:00 PM.
Ma was waiting with her danth (scoldings) and hot soup. Some warm food in the belly and I was as good as new. Well almost! It was time to catch with others. Almost everyone had a tough time getting home but were all safe. October 26th!! Will remember this experience for a long time.
Time to tuck in...
Nighty Night!
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