26th July 2005 - - part 3

(Late post. Sorry folks, office is killing me! & on top of all that, they blocked blogger! ARGH! :| :|)

Read Part 1 & Part 2 first.

Imagine being surrounded by a complete blanket of darkness around you. Add to that, walking/trying-to-keep-your-self-from-drowning in water. Not to mention a middle-aged lady who was... suprisingly fast! I mean dude, you are in water. you are in the dark. & hello? you are like 35!! How can you move that quick???!!!!


So, the situation looked grim. It was like you get halfway through something and then you have the "Uh-oh" moment. We were as far away from Linking Road & from S.V.Road & suddenly it didnt look like a escape route anymore! The water for some reason was rising alarmingly fast, the lady seemed to be getting taller & hop-skipping to safer places. Bhavik was getting scared at how chest high water for the guys meant a literal visarjan for the tiny me *gulp*. Nik looked tense for the first time during the night, we were holding hands really tightly so that we dont lose anyone. Bhavik suggested that they should carry me. My expression was the precise equivalent of "???!!!!" After some delibration the idea was dropped because the water was overpowering whatever we would do anyway. It was safer to hold hands. I distinctly remember slipping once and almost drowning, with my poor heart in my mouth, thrashing around in the water that a freaking eel! After what seemed like forever, we finally noticed that the water seemed calmer (apparently the earlier rushing water was due to some pipe burst + rain + road slope) and seemed to be going down. Finally reached S.V.Road, where the water was indeed lower and thats when Rupesh says, "Erm.. guys.. where is that lady?". We look around & there are very few people around us, and we exchange looks of "wtf happened to her???!!!" Bhavik swore she was ahead of us when we stumbled upon S.V.Road & right now there was no lady in sight...

26th July 2005 - - part 2

Read Part 1 here.

Four people. Two umbrellas. I was mentally doing a jig, wonder if everyone could hear it. I mean come on!!!! Anyone who stays here in Mumbai knows how romantic the rains are - its grey and windy and there is this slight chill in the air that feels quite nice. I am really short (barely 5 2") and I was walking on the divider, one hand over Nik's shoulder, hunched up under the umbrella. The water was rising, though it was just drizzling.. Our other two friends (Bhavik & Rupesh) were walking behind us, discussing Mechanics - I.(?!)

That month, there was this new newspaper that was breaking into the largely monopolized market of TOI - DNA (haven't heard of that since then actually :P but they did come with a bang..) They had this survey thing, where people wearing boring blue shirts caught you at bustops and stations, asking "Kya aapke paas saath minute hai?". There we were soaking wet, given up on the umbrella, walking with a crowd of people, and Nik, very well known for this stupid PJ's says, "Yeh loh mujhe maarenge na, if I ask them, kya aapke paas saath minute hai?". "If you don't shut up, main tujhe maroongi" I say, giggling nevertheless :P

26th July 2005 - - part I

Its been five whole years, and yet when I think of it, it makes me smile for some strange reason. Almost everyone I know has a '26th July Story', I do too, and no, its not  something extraordinary.. Its something that happened to a lot of people, that walk back home.. For me, it is one of the awesomest, thrilling times I have ever had., simply because Im sure no other city other than Mumbai would have given me such an experience.... So what happened? Read on... :)
 

26th July 2005'.. 

Just after lunch break, it starts to rain. It isnt pouring, its drizzling steadily, fat drops of water... exactly how I like it. Its starting to get chilly, and my socks feel so warm in my brand new shoes. Its that shade of grey that I really really like outside, but unfortunately I have a book that I really really hate in front of me. Applied Physics - I. Nothing that can ACTUALLY BE applied in real life anyway. Looking up, I watch the teacher drone on about Gauss's Theorem and start to zone off. Mom calls and the vibration thats as good as a ringtone, brings me back to the present. I put it on silent and throw it into my bag. Turn back, bleary eyed, to "...the volume total of all sinks and sources, the volume integral of the divergence, is equal to the net flow across the volume's boundary ..."

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