Rain rain go away but do not forget to come again

I dont recall Mumbaiites every being scared of the rains but 26/7 changed all of that. In that sense it was an equivalent of a 9/11 for us. Suddenly every downpour was looked upon with suspicion as if every shower would wreak havoc in our lives. Guess its true, "Once bitten twice shy".

What gives me nightmares about the monsoon in Mumbai is the traffic jams, the flooding which causes vehicles to breakdown, getting to work soaked in acid rain, being cramped up in a bus or train-wet bodies sticking to each other, somehow hoping to get home and rush into the shower.

Unfortunately rains in Mumbai has lost it romanticism for me and I no longer even look forward to getting a holiday because I know that I'd have to work an extra day to compensate for it. And what pisses me off is when people sitting in their homes write status updates on Facebook saying how they love it when it rains and how wonderful it is. I wonder how these people would feel wading through knee deep mucky waters and walking a mile to get any kind of transport to take them home.

Of course the monsoon is a God sent especially after 3-4 months of gruelling summer. Not to mention the water cuts. But wish it could have been less painful to put up with the monsoon. Or wish that after years of facing the same problems the Municipal authorities would do something permanently to get rid of it. But that is a utopian fantasy and it'll never come true. Anyways this post is not about the pathetic situation of the civic amenities coz enough is said about that.

What amuses me is the reaction that non-Mumbaiites have to the rains. I have a colleague who's experienced her first ever rains in Mumbai and spent all of a couple of months in the city. Poor girl had to go through a lot of trouble yesterday and she's bracing herself for more of such situations. Suddenly it makes you feel proud that you've been putting up with this shit for many years now and although you hate it you've gotten used to it so its no big deal.

Finally I just have to quote a friend's tweet: "blocked drains, traffic jams, garbage, sewage, overflowing drains, craters & pollution. Yet 1 crore is the min that anyone needs for a flat in Mumbai."