Friday, September 14, 2007

midnight ramblings

Its almost 1 am and I am up leaving comments on nostalgic posts of strangers from the blog world, making myself oggarane haakida mosaranna for the second dinner of the night and walking up and 4 floors to the terrace and back to see if the traffic's moving. There is no cable and the house running on a DG am clinging on internet because Hemingway is unable to engage the mess that is my head right now. No I am turn into an insomniac lunatic I am waiting for V to return from work. No this is not one of those project deadline days. He is on the road somewhere in his second attempt to get home tonight. His first attempt was at 9 and he didn't even manage to get out of his office compound for the first half hour. Once he hit the road he spent the next half hour trying to go back to office because the damn road was jammed all the way till Silk Board flyover. So he started the whole exercise 3 hours later only this time in taxi. In all the excitement to get home he parked the car in the office basement and now we are wondering if we'll have to call the insurance guys tomorrow because it is still pouring.

As per the latest SMS from V The taxi driver does not know where he is!!! I am trying bloody hard not to freak out.

This is what Bangalore is become...rain means traffic jams nothing but traffic jams. I've spent my whole life in this city and till 2004 I had seen just one flooding that was probably in 89-90. That was an exception. The same year Ulsoor lake walls had breached and had flooded the whole area something that's almost a certainty during monsoons these days. Of course the flood in 2005 was the mother of all and we had not moved into our new home but water did. House stood in water for 4 days and we couldn't even get to it. Someone sent me the pictures of the time and till date I have shivers every time it thunders.

Okay V has found the main road and now I wait...again...because they are now approaching the house from the opposite end which means an additional 20 kms!

Why am I doing this running commentary? I guess I have to say to someone what I am feeling. Can't call Amma at this hour and freak her out...

And for once in my life I am grateful for cell phones else if V had vanished for this long without it I would've been waking up the neighbours by now (not that it would help)

This is not the Bangalore I grew up in and fell in love with madly and threw away careers for...And no I am not talking about the traffic jams. This city is a different woman now.

Will I have to put her in a time capsule too? Like all those friends and good times I had here? I don't see any other way.

I say this everytime something unbangalore (at least in my head) happens but next day someone will talk about malleshwaram or Tata institute or cubbon park or sankey tank and I will tell myself I don't want to live anywhere else in the world.

Postscript: V reached home at 2 in the morning. He didn't go to office this morning (I am aware that there 100s who do not have this luxury) because last night's traffic jam continued till 12 today and the tiny road that leads to the main road is full of water . Both of us are sitting at home watching the rain havoc coverage on TV9 (of course Rahul Dravid's decision to resign brought down the fervour of live coverages). But I can't help wonder at people's enthusiasm to bring home Ganesha despite all this. I mean I am seeing people wading through knee deep water to get him home.

And I wonder how long BBMP will keep saying we were not expecting this sort of unprecedented rain!

2 comments:

Shruthi said...

I totally relate to this post - esp the last paragraph. Well-written. Hope V got back safely.

Abhipraya said...

Yes Shruthi he got back safe. Thanks :)