Just recently, myself... a cosy urban
Indian, felt besieged by yet another series of "Breaking News"
.... multitude of riots and mass murders ...overwhelming sights of
humanity being ravaged in relief camps... Indians v/s Bangladeshis,
North East woes, Maharashtra v/s UP – Bihar... Coal Scams .... 2G
scams.. BJP – Congress... Anna Camp ...
Sitting at home .. watching the world
go by in a blur in the confined television screen... all I could
really think of doing was changing the channels to find some
sanity...The Chalta Hai..Hota Hai.. attitude is what truly defines
the Aamchi Mumbai spirit... 7 years ago, Mumbai was flooded and it's
still a date to reckon with..... 26/7. This piece of news garnered
the highest TRPs as we saw double deck buses flooded and scores of
people sinking and swimming across the roads...amidst sewage water..
I was home... wondering what it must be like... thanking god for not
being stranded on the streets... feeling bad for others and also
there was the devil's joy of being only a mere recipient of ill fated
news where all you need to do is show some empathy even if you don't
really feel it.
It becomes a mutual cord of
anti-incumbency ... point of discussion and debate... especially on
national television.
I had the privilege of witnessing this
first hand on Monday (Sept 3, 2012) as the city found itself in
similar deluge. Flooded Roads. Traffic Massacre and people as usual
.... CHILLED OUT!!!...
Started from Marol ...got onto a bus at
6 pm ish... Took almost an hour to just travel 4 km and then jammed
in the traffic for another hour... got down, hitched a bike ride from
an absolute stranger ... winding through the murky flooding lanes of
Jari Mari Road...towards Kurla... Bike too reached a point of
standstill and after that it was on foot for over 2 hours that I
witnessed the carnival.
Water levels waist deep, open shops
with floating packets of chips and what not... small kids trying to
bucket out the water tirelessly and pointlessly from their homes..
women and children all huddled. Saw an old man sitting over a table
top... smiling and chatting... the tranquility on his face! for them
its just another day... a typical monsoon Mumbai day....
For all those worriers of Hindu Muslim
divide.... this was a sight to relish... for hundreds of Muslims were
out on the streets (That area being predominantly of Islamic
demography) ... guiding the stranded pedestrians through potholes and
open man holes and construction sites ... shortest routes... serving
potable water....biscuits etc... all while it's pouring...
While I saw this.. all that came to my
mind is... why are these people even out? Shouldn't they be in their
homes.. they have the very option, the very choice to do so. They
don't really need to suffer the assault on their senses unlike the
other commuters. I would have slept in the cushion of my home for all
I know. Selfless and undying efforts from young boys and elders alike
for so many hours. How did it matter who's worships whom!
Mumbai... it has never stopped living
.... I did learn more in that one day than in my whole
insignificant life .... the fact that my body can endure so much...
the obviousness of ignoring all that's unnecessary like ... walking
through sewage water which contains the entire city's defecated
matter.... the ability to trust blindly....to walk with strangers
hand in hand...to respect people of all sect and admit their bravery
and skillsets.. that those who have almost nothing can still oblige
you so much....
If anything, I hope my rendezvous with
the city at its most demanding hour has made me a more acceptable
human being... and more believing ... a person whose faith is
restored....
