There was a rain scare in Mumbai today. It sounds very funny saying that but those of us who have seen 7/26 will not laugh. I spent 2 nights in the office sleeping on a maroon(ed) coloured mattress. This time when I heard about the incessant rains and flooding in some parts of Mumbai on TV, my mind went back to those mattresses again and those chilly nights I spent in the conference room. There was no way I was going to spend another hour in this office now. I quickly gathered some friends who were staying in the North of Mumbai and headed towards the station hoping that the trains services would be still running smoothly. After a very long long time, I caught a Bhayander local since I had Aadesh and Randhir accompanying me. One hour and I was happily home, thanking the god all the way. There were some moments of anxiety when the local stopped before Dadar for a while probably due to some signalling problem. We imagined ourselves wading through 6 feet water all the way to Borivli! For the uninitiated, the local trains take around 45 minutes to complete the journey between Dadar and Borivli.
Back home the atmosphere was one of relief but the tap once again mocked at me by squirting the last few drops of water on my dirty palms. That apart this great evening had something in store for me. Since Mom couldn’t go shopping, I was entrusted with the honorary job. A long list of 22 essential commodities (excluding her medicines) was prepared and handed over to me with some money. The last time I was holding such a big list was when I entered the 10th class in my school where I had to purchase a lot of books and journals pertaining to my subjects and coaching classes.
The list consisted of vegetables, dairy products, soaps and detergents and some garlands for the daily puja. They were categorised in the order of the people I was supposed to buy them from. So even though the milk man came on my way to the market first – since he was placed last in the list – he was ignored completely. After the shopping got over, I let off some air signalling instant relief to my inner soul. After revving up the car I went upstairs and got some critical acclaim for my choice of vegetables. And then mom informed me that I had forgotten to bring 2 out of the 22 things she’d listed out :-( It felt like scaling Mt. Everest and then forgetting your goggles at the summit.
That apart the Great Indian Laughter Challenge bought some much needed comic relief to my dull and damp day. It was the Mega Finals episode and Sunil Pal won the hilarious rivalry hands down :-)
