Everyone loves standing on the sea shore, watching the waves come and go, reaching just above the ankle. It is a lovely feeling to have the sea caress your feet while you’re on the beach, also everyone enjoys wading in ankle deep waters in the sea. Now imagine a similar scenario, with water coming just above your ankles, the only difference being that you’re not on the seaside but are fully dressed in the middle of the waterlogged streets, trying to get to the other side so that you can reach your institution on time and a bus roars by, sending waves on your already drenched clothes. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the monsoons in Bombay.
Now, it may be a little premature for me to curse the weather in the city as these were the first rains in the city for the last 10 odd days that I have been here after joining a post graduate course, but I think I may have gotten a pretty good preview of what lies in store for us for the rest of the season. After having torrential rainfall throughout the night, a fair majority of the hostel populace got ready to leave for college in the morning, cursing the seniors who forced us to wear formals with leather shoes and all, which apart from being uncomfortable are probably the worst selection of apparel to tackle the rains.
Being egoists, everyone loathes carrying umbrellas and everyone was hardly trying to protect themselves from the veritable downpour that was taking place. Some umbrellas and windcheaters were visible but they were as helpful as a snowmobile in a desert. (Sorry about the pathetic comparison, couldn’t come up with something better at this moment.) Being hostellers, we relied on our two legs and Auto Rickshaws for our travelling needs and we were really desperate to get some autos today and everyone relied on the people with umbrellas to get autos for them. Of course, a few minutes later when everyone was waiting, with no autos in sight, it was time to take matters in our own hands and go to the end of the lane to hail a rickshaw. It was a bit of a surprise to see a fairly decent crowd waiting at the end of the road trying to get an auto to reach college as everyone was already running late.
Everyone knew that waterlogging was a serious issue in the city, but I don’t think most of us were prepared to witness what was in store for us. Water on the sides of the road reached till above our shoes and water level kept increasing with every single drop that fell from the skies. A few minutes later, with no willing autos in sight and no sign of the rains letting up, the only thing that was happening was the increase in the number of people waiting for transportation. At this point of time I would like to make it clear that I am quite used to rains, I spent the last 4 years of my life graduating from a college in a city that defined what hot and wet climate is. During the 4 months from June to September, it would be a treat to be able to see the sun and a clear blue sky, but we never had to consider the possibility of swimming from one place to another over there.
Now, back to Bombay, while waiting for conveyance, everyone noticed an auto stopped around 30 feet ahead of us, but no one was actually trying to get to it because of the amount of water next to it. One brave soul decided to take the plunge only to realise that the auto was occupied and it stopped, not because it wanted to, but because it refused to go on because of the amount of water. Eventually an auto stopped and we allowed those with no rain protection gear to go ahead while we waited, dripping on the side of the road. A change of strategy was considered and we decided to change our position to one which held a strategic advantage to stopping any available autos, the only disadvantage being this position did not have the rain shelter like the previous one. Our efforts did pay off soon as an auto stopped to take us to college. Things started to look up, as we were finally on the way to the institute, but as luck would have it. The auto stopped midway and then refused to start after that. We had to walk the rest of the way to the college amidst the deluge and the shin high water at certain points. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience and adding to it was the fact that my glasses were spotted with water droplets making visibility worse than what it was.
After finally making it to the college, the air conditioned classes proved to be our undoing as no one was in the mood to sit drenched in a chilled classroom. Everyone was soaked, dripping, their clothes appearing darker than they were. My trousers had developed a sort of a metallic lustre because of the surface of water. Little kids like the squishing sound that wet shoes make, but when you’re in a post graduate course, you seem to outgrow it and it seems more of an irritant. It was quite disturbing to find that our teacher, who coincidentally was the dean, had not yet reached class and after a while all classes were cancelled leaving us free for the day, forced to face the wrath of nature on the way back. Being completely drenched, everyone decided to walk back as the rains had subsided. You don’t often get to walk in the middle of a road in Bombay during the day, but that is what everyone did today. Vehicles were travelling in a single file, with the stray ambitious drivers feeling that it was their moral obligation to splash the hapless pedestrians with the massive amounts of accumulated water.
Eventually after being splashed by buses, wading through deep puddles, looking for potholes and points with shallow water, scared of open manholes, we finally reached our hostel, drenched, dirty and irritated. Now this was the first day and the first rain with many more imminent. Everyone did warn me about the deluge and the waterlogging, but I wasn’t really prepared for this. I guess I really can’t do too much about this, the only thing I can do is say, “Let The Rains Begin!!”.
del·uge [del-yooj, -yoozh, del-ooj, -oozh, dih-looj, -loozh]
–noun
1. a great flood of water; inundation; flood.
2. a drenching rain; downpour.
3. anything that overwhelms like a flood: a deluge of mail.
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