You would have expected Thursday's rain to send Amdavadis running for cover. But in fact it brought them out of their homes to enjoy chai and makai from road side kitlis and stalls.
Youth thronged kitlis near IIM-A and University to enjoy a piping hot cup of tea in the monsoon.
"We desperately needed the rain after the sweltering heat and humidity," said Dishank Panchal, a consulting associate with a firm in the city. Panchal, who went on a drive with friends to enjoy some chai on SG highway, however, said the thunder and lightning was scary. "On my way back home I almost got blinded for a few seconds due to the lightening," said Panchal.
The rains also gave couples an opportunity to go on a romantic long drive. Many of them were seen vrooming on their bikes on the SG Highway to nearby getaways like Thol and Nalsarovar. However, not everyone was happy with the rain.
Artist Apurva Desai, a resident of Panjrapol had a harrowing time after heavy rains brought down the compound wall near Polytechnic. "As the wall caved-in rain water gushed in to my home spoiling my paintings and drawings worth lakhs of rupees," he said.
Around 15 to 20 of Desai's paintings were ruined in the rain water. Areas such as Bopal, Navrangpura, Stadium, Naranpura, Manekbaug, interior areas of Ghatlodia, Amraiwadi, and CTM cross roads were the worst hit with landslides and huge puddles jamming traffic.
Residents of Bopal and Ghuma had a tough time reaching their offices and schools on Friday due to water logging in the area.
"Thanks to the digging work carried out by the municipal authorities, we knew we were going to have a harrowing time once the rains come," said Ramesh Shah a resident of Ghuma.
It took commuters more than an hours to cross the Ghuma-Bopal road to reach Sardar Patel Road. Ideally it takes just 15 minutes to reach there through the Ghuma Bopal Road.
(Tuli Banerjee contributed to this report)
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