Sonia Faleiro

Blogging Break? Yes, but not quite as I had planned. On Tuesday, my Air Deccan flight to Delhi, from where I was to leave for Seoul, was scheduled for 1.15 p.m. As I packed my bags, I received a call from the airline telling me that the flight was delayed till 2.45 p.m.

"That's fine", I shrugged. "When has Air Deccan ever left on time?"

At 2.45 p.m. I was on the plane. Lonely Planet Korea on my lap, camera by my side, a shawl to better enjoy my nap. The two seats beside me were empty, and I thought, "Things are looking good."

At 7.30 p.m. I was still on the plane. The rain slammed against the windows. Looking outside, I couldn't tell the flying trees from the falling water. The tarmac was invisible.

I calmly ordered more food than I have ever eaten in one sitting. A ham bun, chicken roll, fruit juice, coffee, cup o'noodles, a vegetable sandwich. I ate steadily. I was eating for the next 24 hours.

A small van in the far distance was rocking like a baby lost at high tide.

Inside, a man whipped out his laptop and played film music; a family opened their tiffin, distributed plates and napkins, placed a bib on the baby, and began tucking in. The smell of parathas and pickle mingled with that of sweat and anticipation and worry. The air hostesses huddled in the rear of the plane; the Pilot promised us "hot beverages", which never arrived. Two men in front of me who had spent the afternoon yelling on their cell phones and singing Punjabi songs, left.

"Good riddance,"I thought, uncharitably.

At 7.30 we were deplaned. "The airport is flooded," the Pilot warned us.

Water had entered the airport. Bags were moving without assistance. There was chaos. Running, screaming, "anyone has a working phone?" "a charger?" We were trapped.

Rumours and calls for assistance, mingled. Flood, disaster, systems down, my baby, my wife, my husband where are they?

The airlines shut their counters; essential personnel had this suggestion:
"Make yourself comfortable. You're not going anywhere."

A woman ran over my foot, with her overflowing trolley. I said,"We're all in a hurry!"

We were. But we both learnt, too soon, that we had no where to go.

Great post - thanks for writing in the midst of apparent chaos.

India's most important city brought down to its knees by a mere downpour or two - scary, and food for thought.

Thank goodness for the bountiful kindness of strangers, it's people like those who you describe that make B'bay the warm and resilient city that it is.

Anumeeta

It really is shocking that a monsoon shower, however ferocious, brought the city to a standstill. Apparently, Mumbai has the most comprehensive disaster plan of any city in India, and yet the state government could impliment none of its provisions --at least visibly so--in the first 24 hours.
And this is Mumbai. Good luck and my prayers for Gujarat, which is apparently expecting similar rainfall.
And the people mobilised themselves without any second thoughts, or support from the police or the medical services. They saved lives in many ways other than the most obvious.
And on a personal note, I'm not going to Seoul after all. But hey, I got home while a hundred others (1,500 according to NDTV) are unable to leave the airport, still. So I'm keeping the complaints to a minimum.

I've been away from Mumbai on business for two weeks and was due to return today. Was shocked by the television reports and particularly appaled by the utter inadequacy of rescue and relief arrangements by our local civic bodies. What good is it to pretend to be the country's mightiest city when all it takes is one swipe by Mother Nature to bring you down to your knees? I hope the people of Mumbai seek some serious answers from those whom they elected on why they have been unable to rise to the occassion when assistance was most needed.

Sridhar

Thanks for posting your experience.

Glad to hear that you are home safe and warm!

Ishana

Fascinating post, and it's interesting to have an inside view of what happend. I was cought in a monsoon that flooded most of Chowringhee in Calcutta a couple of years ago. It remember walking to my hotel with water up to my knees in the pooring rain. Luckely the water dissipated in a day.

Nice post Sonia.
Once again the people of Bombay have responded magnificently.The government was ineffective as ever.
There has got be be some way we can arrest Bombay's decline.
Separate state?
Economic independence from the rest of India?
Most people in Bombay are sick and tired of our tax money subsidising highways/metro in Delhi and carrying the load of Bihar and Orissa.
The civic problems and creaking infrastucture in Bombay need a government whose main focus is development , not the present bunch of jokers who are more concerned with banning dance bars.

SF,

I'm proud of you :)

AB

superb account...however, a less than super experience, i would imagine.

on the bright side, i guess if you could survive an ordeal like this with your chin up and fingers nimbly a-blogging soon after, heck, you could survive anything :)

take care, stay safe.

sripriya

This has been a sad, sad week, even by Indian standards. The chaos and loss of human life appears to be spiralling, and the state government's solution is condolence visits to the bereaved, expressions of regret, and shoulder shrugging.

This is the latest news, from NDTV:
"At least 18 people have been killed and over 20 injured in a stampede in Mumbai after false rumours were spread of a tsunami.

The police are now searching for the people who spread the false news.

The rumours first began in Kalyan at around 4:00 pm (IST) where it was feared that the Badlapur dam had burst.

Soon after Kalina in Santa Cruz was abuzz with news that the Powai dam was giving way.

By 7:00 pm (IST), the fears surfaced in Kurla where people began fleeing after hearing rumours of a tsunami hitting the shores.

Soon Juhu was also caught in the rumour mill and people began rushing towards the airport looking for an exit route from the city.

But the worst was still to come in a slum colony close to Juhu, Nehru Nagar where at 10:00 pm (IST), the panic led to a stampede, killing 18 people.

"Somebody spread the rumour that a tsunami was coming and since the sea is nearby everybody started panicking. There has been no electricity in this area since day before and this caused the chaos," said A N Roy, Police Commissioner.

"There was a rumour that water is flowing over the zoo. Four men spread this rumour. When people heard this news, they started running and after that, people were falling over each other, running over the children.

"An announcement was made in the mosque that it was a rumour. But people started crying. They felt that the sea water is going to be all over them and they will die," said a local.

Though Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil visited the area on Thursday to monitor the situation, little was said of why the administration did not act soon enough to calm fears.

One can endlessly speculate on what went wrong and whether this tragedy could have been averted.

But it is not difficult to imagine how visions of a tsunami gripped the minds of so many, creating hysteria that soon spun out of control."