As Ravi edged his behemoth harder, he filled his faith on two things.. One off-course one was himself and the second was the 268 hp engine under the hood of his car. He turned up the volume of his music and oblivious to him, he had switched on a loud Hindi hip hop music which was never his taste. It some how soothed his jittery feelings. He was finding it hard to feel the road, but he kept raving the engine up. All off a sudden he realised that the water had climbed up to his window mirror and he could not see the car hood. He did not know what to do, and in all that his leg seemed to have automatically kept pushing on hard on to accelerator. The only solace was that there was no body in front of him.. His BMW felt like a bullock cart trying hard to move. He could sense that his back tyre was drifting towards right and it was having difficulty to find a grip.
He yelled out, "Good Lord, once more pls... I need to reach home... Help ME!!!"
It was as if his words were heard, the engine roared harder and made its way ahead, he sensed the water level around him was going down. He was able to see his car bonnet clearly now. Water kept receding. He looked at his rear view mirror for a second to see what had happened. That is where he realised that the water seemed to have been gushing out through one of the streets like a river and he happened to have just crossed a "Sangam" (River meeting the sea). He made a silent prayer and thought all was over and he is now safe, oblivious of what was waiting for him ahead. He kept pushing his car and finally took a sharp right as he entered the community complex. It was a big one with apartments and Villa houses in the community. Ravi had never bothered to take notice of any of these or anything. Most of the times his focus was on the client calls that would last him till the time he reached home. Today he realised that it was after years that there were so many families and he had never bothered to think about any body there. He crossed the apartment complex and turned left towards his Villa rows which was lined with shrubs and some trees on both sides of the road. His house was the fifth as he entered the street. He could see Maya on the porch, eagerly waiting for him to come home. He cut left to park his car on the dry porch. He missed to see that there was a small stream of water flowing on the street. As he got down, he could not resist but hug Maya. It was Ravi more than Maya who was searching for reassurance of things being ok!!
They got in and Ravi got into playing with both his kids who were oblivious to what was happening outside. Ravi did not talk about his recent experience with Maya. He felt at ease. As the evening went on, the rain went on pounding as if it was angry with earth for some reason. By 10 pm he stepped out to the porch and was surprised to see that the water was at the porch and he was not able to see the small grass patch in front of his house. He sensed the porch bulb flickering. At that point he felt things to be really going bad with this non stop rain. He thought of the rain water drain and made a point to talk to the association, with whom he had never connected. He checked his car lock and then stepped back into the house, locking all the doors. Maya had ensured that the kids were tucked well in their bedroom in the first floor and had headed back into the living room on the ground floor. Ravi was in the kitchen making a coffee for them. He loved his late night coffee which he had got addicted to for the past three years now. He gave a cup to Maya and sat down on the sofa watching the news. News as usual was about things that never bothered the common man in the country but with sensationalisation every time. He was switching channels to see if there was anything about Chennai rains, but that did not seem sensational compared to the stupid clips being played over and over. Five mins later Maya asked Ravi "if he heard something unusual". He turned the TV mute but could not hear anything. At that moment he felt his feet wet. He looked down and looked at Maya asking if the Kitchen sink was open. She rushed in and found everything in place. She could sense that the water was coming from somewhere else. She looked around. By now Ravi was curious too and he looked at his main door and realised that the water was seeping in through that. He rushed to open the door. The moment he opened it, a gush of water rushed in. With lots of difficulty he could slam close the door. Water had entered his house and was seeping through the gap below. Not sure what to do, he told Maya go to the first floor, she insisted to stay on... Maya freaked out saying water was coming in through the kitchen door too... Now water had spread all across the ground floor like a carpet cover. Ravi put all his DVDs and surround system on the sofa and started to move up on the stairs. As they both moved up, the electricity went off but he knew that the DC will be up and running any second now. They waited as the seconds turned into minute, Ravi was slowly feeling the panic that he had inside the car. "My Car!!!" Ravi freaked. Even before he could take a step forward, Maya held him saying "not now, let the water drain off. I am sure, this will go away". In the darkness he thought that was a better option.
They headed upwards as they could hear the kids calling for them. They got into the kids room and stayed there. They kept talking to kids and to each other as what would be happening below. Ravi said we can check it in the morning. In the darkness both of them slept off along with the kids in the same room. Ravi woke up and checked his pockets for his cell phone but then he realised that he had left his cellphone in the ground floor. He scrambled for a torch that he had never used. It had been lying patiently there in the cupboard gathering dust. He fumbled on the torch switch, which was not willing to switch on. He yanked it and at last there was light. He headed down towards the ground floor. He could hear the gurgling sound more clearly and now he was feeling tensed. As he reached half way down, he saw that water was already 2 feet in his living room and the steps seemed to be disappearing faster under water. He felt scared, in the darkness he stepped back not sure what to do... He went back into the kids room and woke Maya up quietly. He told he what the situation was below. They both stepped out and watched what was happening to their beautiful house while feeling helpless. Maya reached out to her phone and checked the time, it was 4.30 am in the morning. Day light was still away!!! Maya thought for a while and left to her bedroom, she pulled out a bag and put in some of their clothes and also of the two kids. Ravi asked what she was upto, she stated it is a feeling if the water comes up at least we could have some for a change. Ravi did not argue with her as he was more lost in a state of shock.
The minutes were horrifying to wait, they could not sleep. Ravi could feel that the rains have abated for a while and now there was a mild drizzle. By 5.45 am there was a little bit of light, and he rushed towards the balcony to make sense of what was happening. He was shocked at what he saw and stood by the door of the balcony. He felt as if he was on a boat with water everywhere. He had a helpless feeling. Maya came behind her and freaked out... she could see cars floating on the road right in front of her house. The next thought was where is their car and how would it be. By now, Ravi had reconciled to the fact that, save ourselves and survive. This is not an ordinary day. The next biggest thing was hunger, what will they eat and their kids... They had to hold on... Fortunately the rains had stopped but the water was gushing out with ferocity in front of them. If was as if they were staying on the river banks. Ravi saw a lot of his neighbours for the first time. All of them started waiving to each other and asking about their physical well being. He was responding to them but they all were worried. As the day wore on, the food being less they were managing with some biscuits and the water bottle in the kids room that Maya had brought last night. Every hour was agonising and the feeling of helplessness was becoming stronger. None of them could come down or move. The only solace was the balcony as someone or other was there on their balcony. They were trying to call for help. Some how to reach one another. The kids were getting hungry so somehow he and Maya asked for some food help from their neighbours. With what ever they could manage to get, they fed their kids. They stayed hungry with nothing much to do. The evening was more agonising as it was pitch dark and the torch light was also dying. The kids slept off hungry and Maya could not bear the helplessness that she was felling. She broke down and wept hard. Ravi was clueless. They had tried to reach out to their friends asking for some help. More so, food for the little ones. But so far not much that could be done.
The second day by 6.30am, Ravi could see someone coming towards their streets. He was stunned and it felt as if someone had chocked him, his voice could not come out. There was some noise from the neighbours. Hearing the voices, Maya had come out onto the balcony and started asking for food too, with a hope. The boatsman had exhausted with what ever he had by the time he reached Maya's balcony. He said in a very calm voice, "Ma, don't worry help is on its way. I will come back soon with food and milk for your kids." It seems eternity when after 2 hours the boats man back again. He had given some food and milk for the kids. He turned around and was about to leave, when Ravi pulled out a 500 rupee note to give him. The man said, "Sir keep it, I do not need it. Take care of your family". He had made 8 more trips that day with many more unknown faces who had food and some bedsheets to use. Ravi had put his hand forward when ever there was a need. Now more shamelessly for his kids and wife. Maya had not been sleeping. She would be looking at the ground floor with fear of the rising water and the other was the anxious eyes searching for some food and freedom.
The next day, as the water started to reduce there was hope of getting down into his ground floor.. Ravi was stunned by the impact. There was still knee deep water but everything of his beautifully decorated house was destroyed. The sofa was on top of the music system. The new gas cylinder was floating around... more so, there were fishes everywhere. He ran up with tears in his eyes. Maya understood that the house was in shambles... They heard some announcements happening outside, and realised that the association members on their big apartment complex are asking them to come out of their houses so that they could feel the dry places that they have arranged in the nearby school. Maya was in a state of shock. Ravi was no better either. They got their kids and the little bag that Maya had got ready on the first day and got into the boat without any questions. They wanted to get out. As they moved out and came to the school, they were given new mats and bedsheets by their neighbours.
They had a proper bath and got to a corner of the school room. Ravi had put forward his hand for food. Maya had clutched her kids and slept off knowing that they were far away from water and were in human contact. She had not slept properly in the past three days and slept off.
Ravi ate the sambar rice that was served to him. He ate as if this was the first time he was seeing food. He broke down and wept like a kid. What use was his BMW, Villa, position in office, bank balance, foreign travel when all he wanted was a safe place for his kids and a three time meal for them. All of this was just his ego which was of no use when he really wanted. He made a resolve then and there to start connecting with people, helping others there and support in what ever that he could do.
He had just stepped out of the corner to go and help in the cooking when he heard Maya yell, "the water is coming up... Ravi help!!!"... Ravi ran back to her and hugged her, trying hard to comfort her...
It is two weeks now, they had gone back to their house. Cleaned it and trying to settle things. But still Maya has the fear of water gushing in and was finding difficulty in sleeping. She would wake up every now and then and check with Ravi "where am I??" Has the water come into the house??...
This Chennai Floods has brought in many of us come close to reality and the real meaning of life....
