Am I jobless or am I jobless?
The flood in Chennai has walked away with my net connection. So here I am in a Net Centre. Wanted to take one of those Planet kinda cubicles, it looked so cool...but oh well.
About the flood....It was scary. It really was. For the last one month, it's been raining on and off and each morning everybody at work teases me.
"Hey, you didn't get washed away?"
"Hey, you are still here R."
"So you ARE more than two feet! You didn't get washed away."
I've learnt to laugh at the jokes. But yesterday morning, when I woke up, I knew I really would be washed away if I ventured out. It looked like a river. I've never seen so much water in my life.
The electricity went off early morning and we realised we had no candles at home and the water was way too high to venture out. My mobile conked off too so I was pretty jobless.
We managed to search around for Mom's old transistor and listened to AIR for most part of the day. Good old radio.
That's when we started getting calls from people asking us if we were ok. And that's when we realised that dry, drought-stricken, water-starved Chennai was actually making news for a flood!
Immediately, I called up office and was told that relief work had started and that 8,000 emergency relief kits had been distributed. I volunteered to help but was told that the scene was pretty rough and in some areas the water was as high as four feet, so yes, there would be a good chance that I really might get washed away and they didn't want to be rescuing me when there were other people who would really need that help. So that was that.
And that's when S called to say that someone my folks knew had died. He had tried to fiddle with the inverter and had been electrocuted. It still sounds a bit unreal...more so, cos today has been such a sunny day.
I still feel all of it jars. If we had been marooned today too, it might have made sense. But it was over before it really sank in....
When I woke up this morning, I realised that the rains had stopped. But I was certainly not prepared for the dry roads. I mean where did all that water vanish so fast??
But I am told that it's only the city that has cleared up so fast. There are other areas where people have been evacuated. As in any disaster, the homeless bear the brunt and we, we have been untouched. So, P can talk about how she caught up on much needed sleep and everybody can exult at how we made news.
Amidst it all, amidst the overwhelming sense of adventure, it's difficult to believe that lives have actually been lost. To talk about that would seem rather wet-blanketish too.
Isn't it strange how many calamities there are almost every other day?? Starting from September 11th, it hasn't stopped. The war, quakes, floods, the tsunami, cyclones, hurricanes. And like my family friend who was electrocuted proves, even if you are safe and secure in your house, when your time's up, it just is.
The flood in Chennai has walked away with my net connection. So here I am in a Net Centre. Wanted to take one of those Planet kinda cubicles, it looked so cool...but oh well.
About the flood....It was scary. It really was. For the last one month, it's been raining on and off and each morning everybody at work teases me.
"Hey, you didn't get washed away?"
"Hey, you are still here R."
"So you ARE more than two feet! You didn't get washed away."
I've learnt to laugh at the jokes. But yesterday morning, when I woke up, I knew I really would be washed away if I ventured out. It looked like a river. I've never seen so much water in my life.
The electricity went off early morning and we realised we had no candles at home and the water was way too high to venture out. My mobile conked off too so I was pretty jobless.
We managed to search around for Mom's old transistor and listened to AIR for most part of the day. Good old radio.
That's when we started getting calls from people asking us if we were ok. And that's when we realised that dry, drought-stricken, water-starved Chennai was actually making news for a flood!
Immediately, I called up office and was told that relief work had started and that 8,000 emergency relief kits had been distributed. I volunteered to help but was told that the scene was pretty rough and in some areas the water was as high as four feet, so yes, there would be a good chance that I really might get washed away and they didn't want to be rescuing me when there were other people who would really need that help. So that was that.
And that's when S called to say that someone my folks knew had died. He had tried to fiddle with the inverter and had been electrocuted. It still sounds a bit unreal...more so, cos today has been such a sunny day.
I still feel all of it jars. If we had been marooned today too, it might have made sense. But it was over before it really sank in....
When I woke up this morning, I realised that the rains had stopped. But I was certainly not prepared for the dry roads. I mean where did all that water vanish so fast??
But I am told that it's only the city that has cleared up so fast. There are other areas where people have been evacuated. As in any disaster, the homeless bear the brunt and we, we have been untouched. So, P can talk about how she caught up on much needed sleep and everybody can exult at how we made news.
Amidst it all, amidst the overwhelming sense of adventure, it's difficult to believe that lives have actually been lost. To talk about that would seem rather wet-blanketish too.
Isn't it strange how many calamities there are almost every other day?? Starting from September 11th, it hasn't stopped. The war, quakes, floods, the tsunami, cyclones, hurricanes. And like my family friend who was electrocuted proves, even if you are safe and secure in your house, when your time's up, it just is.
posted by Rapunzel at 8:03 pm
14 Comments:
Glad you're all right. It's real frightening. We were kinda caught too on wednesday on the way home from work. And yes, I was a-wondering too about Mother Nature's/His retaliation.
A friend at work told me today that Armageddon is in 2012. That leaves me only 6 years to travel the world, finish writing my book and do Sawyer on 'Lost', George Clooney, Andy Garcia, etc., etc., etc !!! LORD HAVE MERCY!!!
hey guys, i'm seriously feeling weird abt this. i wish we could find out in advance. i wouldnt have to waste my fri night now feeling miserable abt how fckd my life is!
Glad to know ur ok. Stay safe.
Maddie-oh dear!!you dont say so!!yes, yes we shall have to hurry up and do "it" all before then!!
PRERO-only friday nights, eh??i feel that EVERY night when i have to sleep with roger (my pillow.he isnt very demonstrative u see, and i feel quite a loser cos i shower him with so much lou and he is so blurry unresponsive. bah!
FIRST RAIN-i am a survivor. even if i had gone under, i just might have floated :)yes, i am safe but i must tell u my hormones were anticipating the storm. they threw a temper tantrum at me the prev night, so i wasnt in the least surprised. felt like a heroine...what with the weather reflecting my mood n all.
hahaha.so you didn't get washed away??and you are more than two feet high??lmao.
Hey Rapunzel! I didn't know you were back to blogging!!:) Welcome back.
ANON-couldnt come up with a more original comment??:)
JAX-yes, i am back and have been for over a month now! have u changed the name of ur blog btw??i man in the last few months??cos i remb "verbal diarrhoea" but am not sure it was a JAX who was blogging there....
Oye - Mail me - If possible - to my work id
i keep asking - why is nature so angry? too much it is. bad abt yr family friend. bad.
austere
and thx for da link
PRERO- :) :) :)
AUSTY-yeah i know.it was quite a shock for them.
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