July 26, 2005: When Mumbai was washed away

Mumbaikars remember July 26, 2005, as a day of disaster due to the heavy rains, flooding and loss of life. But for me, it was the day I first came to Mumbai. Living in Udaipur, Rajasthan, I had seen Mumbai only in films. For me, it was a city of film stars and businessmen. It was Mayanagri.

On the night of July 25, my boss from Mumbai called me: ‘Leave Udaipur right now and come to Mumbai as soon as possible.’ He said he had no time to talk in detail and he wanted me in Mumbai the next day as the launch of DNA newspaper was scheduled for July 30 and I had some work. I immediately informed my parents and in 15 minutes, I was on a bus to Ahmedabad, where I boarded the Karnawati Express at 5am.

It was raining heavily as I reached Baroda and the intensity only increased with time. As I crossed Surat, the rain became horrible. Being from Rajasthan, this was just next to havoc for me. When my train crossed Virar, I saw a lot of people standing waist-deep in water along railway tracks with TV sets and other household items on their heads. There was water everywhere and houses were inundated. I reached Borivli at 4pm and the first sight of Mayanagri was beyond imagination. The station was very crowded as local trains were not running and all the long-distance trains had stopped at Borivli. There was no way to go further. I had never seen so many people gathered at a place at a time before. I was very hungry but all the food stalls were empty. Mobile phones were not working. I found just one telephone booth open and it had a very long queue. Each person was allowed just one call for two minutes. I waited more than one hour to call home.

When I asked a passerby how to reach Lower Parel, he said I would have to wait till the local trains started. The roads were also waterlogged. I saw people reserving their spaces to spend the night there. I spent the night sitting on a weighing machine. The next morning, the situation had not improved. I saw a lot of people walking along the tracks. Luckily, I found a boy who stayed at Lower Parel. We started walking with hundreds of people. The track was totally flooded. We reached Andheri station at 12.30pm and were very tired. We waited there for two hours and finally the rain began to subside. A few taxis had started running. But there was a huge crowd and everybody was struggling to catch a taxi. Finally, we found a taxi in which four passengers were already sitting. We ran into a traffic jam at Mahim and started walking along the tracks. Finally, we reached Lower Parel station and the boy showed me the way to the DNA office. I reached office at 6.30pm on July 27. All thoughts of Mayanagri were washed away by then. But after I started living here, every passing day gave me a new experience. Every moment taught me a lesson and life has a new meaning for me now. I am a part of Mumbai. This city makes your every minute important, and every inch precious. Now I understand why time is called money here. After seven years, I realise Mumbai is truly Mayanagri.