The true 'Super Hero'

This is a mail that a good friend of mine Joydeep ( Joy as we lovingly call him) sent me last year post the 26th July 2005 torrential rains in Mumbai . This mail shook me up completely and still gives me goose bumps.

26th July 2005 'The unfateful day' that left behind painful lasting marks on many lives.

People lost a lot... their homes, loved ones and lives. Joy too lost a lot and it's taken him a long time to over come the nightmare. But i think he is a 'Super Hero'. The mail below will explain why i say so ...


Dear Friends,
Tuesday, 26th July will always remain a black letteredday for all people of Mumbai. The fury of nature was at its best and we realized that no one can be spared once we confront the forces. It started like a normal day, people rushing to their offices, traffic was moving as usual, but things took a very dramatic turnat 3:00 PM when the skies opened up and people werecaught in the middle of no where. People were confused and running for cover, to wait for the rains to stop,they didn’t have the slightest clue of what was awaiting for them. Within an hour the entire city wasengulfed in water and home seemed like a place far away. Some people decided to stay back where ever theywere, office, school, in car, bus, railway station and some decided to walk. I can’t comment which decisionwas wiser because everyone had to endure the misery.

I decided to walk home from my office, everything seemed normal till I reached the corner of my house.The sight I saw will surely haunt me for the rest ofmy life. I couldn’t see my apartment, which is on theground floor. It had totally submerged under water.People were hanging on to whatever they could, treetrunks, stranded cars and buses and they could feel that its going to be a never ending moment for them.

Icould some how manage to reach home, the force of the water was not less than 100 Kms an hour and so manytimes I could feel I was going to drown. The surrounding wall of our building had collapsed. Myneighbors on the first floor rushed to my help andbrought me to safety. I was lucky enough to save mymobile phone which helped me and others in thebuilding to communicate with their family members. Butthe misery had just begun. I saw people outside our building stranded in the bus and the water was rising.It had reached the windows of the bus and I could feeltheir nightmare, they were going to suffocate till death. There was no sign of any rescue operation, no fire brigade, no police no body. We tried to call the emergency numbers and then we realized that thenumbers are just for decoration as there is no one onthe other side of the phone. People were flowing awayin the water, screaming for help, and we could justwatch. The hero of the moment was the brave busdrivers and conductors who decided to stay with the stranded passengers.

The water, electricity, cellphones, all became dead. So many of our family members were untraceable. We were praying for their wellbeing. The fire brigade showed up at 2 am, to rescue thepeople in the bus and stranded on our building roof.Somehow they managed to evacuate them with life boats,but within an hour they disappeared. The night was never ending; we could hear people screaming for help,holding on to whatever they got. The morning came and we were able to see the damage done by the floods, the water was still neck deep and people still stranded and there was still no sign of any rescue operation.

No men in uniform were visible neither were the news reporters perhaps they decided to wait and watch the fun and work on their scripts.That was the moment when we took up the responsibility to evacuate people. We went out and into the water. I was joined by many localites who decided to forget their loss and help people reach home. This is Mumbai,we don’t need our so called brave men in uniform to come to the rescue, within moments a full scale rescue operation was launched by us, we made ropeways extending more than two kilometers and giving instructions to stranded people and guiding them tosafety. There were generous people who brought food and refreshments for the trapped people. School kids were cheered up, and we encouraged people move on. We could see the gratefulness in their eyes, and that they were finally on their way home. The volunteers got whatever they cud to evacuate people, make shiftboats, life saving boats, tubes. Women and childrenwere given top priority. The look in their eyes mademe forget my loss. The blessing I got from the people was more than I could ask for. Free food and tea was served to people even though milk and other necessities were disappearing from the market.

This city never gives up, the people are brave and their never say die attitude will always be a legend. 6hours had passed and the rescue operations were stillon and still no sign of any men in uniform. The prideof our nation, the Indian Air Force was generous enough to entertain us with an aerial display for 2seconds and disappear. We had by then evacuated more then 3000 people to safety and more and more volunteers joined in to help us. Water started receding and we were getting news about the havoc caused by the floods, just few kilometers away from myhouse people had drowned and their dead bodies were floating. People had died of suffocation in cars and buses.I could see my apartment later that day and decided totake a peek.

The water inside was still knee lengthand everything was destroyed. My clothes, TV,refrigerator, washing machine, food, utensils etc we recovered with water and turned black. But I didn’t feel any pain, because the entire episode had given me something that nothing and no one can take away. HOPEand WILL TO SURVIVE. I was still alive and breathing and I know I will survive through this. I am deeplygrateful to my neighbors who helped me with food and shelter, my friends for their encouragement, my familyand relatives for their support and as long as I have all of you by my side, I can survive through anysituations in life. And of course the attitude of the people of Mumbai, their unity and their strength.

It may take months to overcome the loss, but this too shall pass. My deepest condolences are with the familymembers who lost their near and dears ones, I pray to God to give them shelter and peace. We realize the value of life when we go through a phase likethis...and as long as you are breathing, there isstill hope. What I endured is nothing compared to people stranded for hours without food and drinkingwater. Thanks to our men in uniform and politicians who madeus realize that counting on them for help is a wasteof time.I once again thank you all for your good wishes,support and prayers. Lets all pray that we never get to experience a moment like this ever in our life.

Regards,
Joy