The worst is over. It is not raining now.
The forecast says it will, but the sun is shining outside the office window -- that, and the way Mumbaikars opened their homes, offices and hearts on Tuesday is reason to cheer.
9 am. It is raining hard and it is dark, but there are enough people and cars out on the road between Andheri, north west Mumbai, and Mahim, north central Mumbai.
A staffer at a car showroom in Andheri adjusts his tie as he shuts his umbrella to enter the store.
The traffic moves slowly, dodging water-logged edges. Five boys share an umbrella, two girls walk bare-footed with slippers in their hands.
Men are offloading cooking gas cylinders in the lashing rain.
The chai-wallah opposite the multiplex is brewing tea as three people wait for their cuppa.
It is a public holiday in Mumbai, but there is more traffic than on a Sunday morning.
Those who have to go, wherever they have to, are on their way.
Last night, some parts of the arterial roads of Santacruz-Khar, north west Mumbai, flowed like a river.
The water bobbed under the car in a stretch that took over an hour to cover. It was scary.
Many cars had been abandoned wherever they had stalled on the water logged road.
There was no electricity in some parts and it took an hour to get from one traffic light to another on one stretch.
An ocean of humanity walked under umbrellas.
Small pick-up trucks gave distressed commuters a ride home.
Some waders took videos as they walked through the water.
Amid shouts of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya', Visarjan groups also made their way to the seashore.
It took over three hours to reach home. Many colleagues, who stayed back in office, made their way home early this morning. The office provided them hot khidchi and a safe, dry refuge.
On an apprehensive Wenesday morning, the Western Express Highway has many stranded cars lining the roads and flyovers.
Cars zig-zag around these cars as they make their way to the city.
The worst is over. It is not raining now.
The forecast says it will, but the sun is shining outside the office window -- that, and the way ordinary Mumbaikers opened their homes, offices and hearts on Tuesday is reason to cheer.
