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Mumbai thru' a curtain of rain

Janaki Murali

THE relentless rains brought life to a standstill in the commercial capital of Mumbai on Monday. Frayed tempers and irritable and cross Mumbaites battled with their frustration as schools closed and buses and suburban trains were stranded as roads and tr acks flooded. Thin attendance was reported at work and those who did set out to work had to abandon their cars and wade the rest of the way to work or home.

But you are on holiday and even as your hosts tell you that your day is doomed, being on holiday meant looking at life from the other side of the spectrum. And it meant looking at Mumbai through a white wall of water and finding it beautiful. Mumbai's sl ums, its squalor and its potholed roads could all be seen through a filter that made Mumbai on Monday look like a Satyajit Ray film.

You admire the view from a 13th storey apartment, as an opaque haze surrounds the city. Through chinks in the curtain you could see surrounding washed-clean apartment blocks and far away in the horizon you could imagine a fiery sea splashing its waves on the rocks and white surf spraying bystanders at bandstand.

Maybe the boats are still bobbing on the sea at Gateway of India. The domestic airport which you could see the previous day and see flights land and take-off, is beyond the white curtain and you can only wonder whether flights are still taking off and wh ether yours will too later in the day.

But there are things to do and you manage to get there during a break in the rain, holding onto your sense of humour and your dry silks. Others are not so fortunate and wonder irritably how you managed to do so, without getting drenched. Their silks ar e ruined for ever as it drips bright colours on the floor. The hosts are busy handling call-ins from different parts of Mumbai as their guests grumble about being stranded at Wadala, Worli, Vikroli, Ghatkoper and Bandra.

And the father of the bride announces to none in particular, ``All our arrangements will go waste now, but we will go ahead with the wedding. As far as I am concerned, the bride and the groom have arrived.''

Later in the afternoon, your host warns you, ``At Bandra everybody is walking, so please don't make any plans to go into town.'' But you finally manage to persuade your host to take you for a drive within a safe radius. It is a roller-coaster ride, as th e car's tyres battle the loose stones that are to be found everywhere on the slippery roads. Puddles and potholes are aplenty and being at the steering wheel in Mumbai on Monday was like getting ready for combat. ``There's another bump coming, fasten you r seatbelts,'' the host warns his guests.

Parking is easy to find in Mumbai's normally busy shopping district, although your irate host takes care to remind you that the car may be floating when you return. However, your host and the car are still there when you return. And finally at the end of the day, your flight does take off.

And as long you don't have to wade to work, or cope with the frustration of daily living during Mumbai's monsoon, the rains on Monday was the most wonderful experience that Mumbai could offer a visitor.

(Feedback can be sent to janmu@thehindu.co.in)