Reader\'s Digest India - 09.2019

IN THE

KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

W

aking up, I looked at the

grim overcast Mumbai

sky, thought a bit and

then decided to go to

work after all. This was

two years ago, when I worked at my

bank’s headquarters at the Bandra

Kurla Complex. As I travelled from my

house in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, the rain

kept advancing along the 50-minute

commute on the bus and local train.

I reached office quite smoothly, but

a few hours later, our phones started

buzzing with news of flooding in various

parts of the city.

Looking out of the window, my

colleagues and I found that the steady

drizzle had grown into a downpour,

while gusty winds whistled through the

streets. Though no one spoke about it,

we got a bit nervous—none of us in the

city have forgotten that July day in 2005

when Mumbai faced its worst floods.

At about 12.30 p.m., after an alert

By Deepak Dharmarajan

94 september 2019

Illustration by Ajay Thakuri

Stranded by torrential Mumbai rains, these commuters

found safe haven with a large-hearted family

HUMANITY

DELUGE