This day that year

I sit on my couch watching the news about heavy down pour in Mumbai. Something that strikes me is the date............. this day 5 years back I was battling the wrath of rains in Mumbai. Now that I think of that day memories are still livid in me.
Thanks to the weather department in India, we got no indication of heavy rains. Everything was taking its normal course when someone at office broke the news that heavy rains had disrupted train traffic in the Western line. Disruption of  rail traffic was no big deal for us so we continued with our work until a mail came from the HR requesting the western railers to leave for home.
I was excited on the idea of leaving early oblivious to the gravity of the situation outside. I made a dash for the office bus and secured myself a side seat. My friends(read BGMM) were already there. As we sat chatting we could see that the rains were quite violent. The water levels on the road was rising steadily. When we were halfway to the Santacruz railway station, bus driver informed us that the bus would no more go. We got down in knee deep water. The rain had not abated. But I was in high spirit. I closed my umbrella and decided to enjoy the rain. But there was something I felt was not right in the weather............. soon there were lot of people walking towards the station. Soon word spread that this was not the usual rains which disrupted traffic for a few hours. Stories began of how people in different parts of Mumbai were braving the rain. I was not at all serious about the whole situation until someone told us that it was useless to go to the station because it was horribly crowded. Soon one of us (BGMM) got a phone call to intimate us that one of our colleagues had drowned by falling in the gutter. Now the gravity of our situation was dawning upon us. Kiran (she was the senior most amongst us) decided that we would go back to office. The journey back was extremely ardous.............. all the drains had over flowed and the stench was intolerable. All of us were soaked to our skins but we had to make our ways back to office.................. a tedious 2 km journey wading in chest deep water. The biggest hurdle was to stay clear of the manholes and drains. Mannu had managed a stick which he used to grope for manholes and drains. We held to each others hands and by evening managed to reach office. Water was soon flooding our office. We quickly made way to the 2nd floor. There were many like us in office including the Director. Completely exhausted, drenched and miserable we made way to the pantry for water. By now our director had ordered a stock of bread, biscuits, water bottles, candles. My mobile was running out of charge and all the cell operators were jammed with signals and calls were not just getting through. There was no way of informing my folks back at home. Soon the UPS would run out of battery back up and we would be left with the candles. We were instructed not to have more than 1 candle for a group of every 10 people. Bread, biscuits were rationed for each group. It was horrible to think that the toilet flushes would run out of water soon.  Soon it was night. All the ladies were asked to occupy the board room and the directors cabins. Water level had climbed upto the first floor of our office. From the staircase I could see the office stationary, cartridges in water. We spent the whole night in a huddled position. I could possibly not sleep in this condition so we decided to make the best out of the situation. Mumbaikars are quite bindaas. We broke into antakshari..................... till it was dawn. It was still raining but lesser in quantum........ Water from the office had subsided considerably. Slowly, cautiously we made our way to the railway station. There was news that trains had begun service but when we reached station, we understood that we could never make it onto any of the trains. Also the stench on the platform was nauseating. We decided to walk uptil Andheri or wherever we could get a train. There were many like us to give us company. There were good samaritans on the roads with bottles of water, packets of biscuit for all. We reached Andheri by afternoon. It was maybe due to the excitement that we never felt the hunger or thirst. Luckily busses had started plying. As we walked on we could see dead bodies of men, cattle and animals floating in the water but we had closed our senses to all sights and smell. We were only driven by our urge to reach home. A bus then took us to Goregaon railway station. We could see a lot of stretchers laden with bodies on the platform. Soon a train came by. I made a dash for the train and by late evening I was home................................. exhausted but relieved.
Now I donot remember whether I even said good bye to my friends before boarding the train............ but I know we(BGMM) will never forget this incident.............
It has been 5 years since i went back to Mumbai. This vacation I am defnitely going back to office................................