Woke up in the safe, but currentless house. Today, all four of us drove down to Raghu Thatha Prema Patti's, and had breakfast with them. December 4th, 2015.
The day was spent talking, and helping my grandparents, uncle and cousins out of their stressed mood. The ground floor of theirs was gone, but salvaging it would be attempted.
That afternoon, my mother and grandfather went, with my uncle, taking Raghu thatha's car, to assess the damage. Whole they were gone, I talked to my cousin, getting the whole story of what happened from the 1st morning, to the afternoon of the 3rd, when we came to get them.
On the morning of the 1st after coming back from school, my cousins had moved everything up a foot, on raised pieces of wood, or other items that were expendable, expecting a foot of water at most.
The next morning, the water had risen an inch at 6:45. My uncle had already moved the bar fridge, full of water bottles, and some provisions, to the first floor, so he assumed they would be fine.
Within ten minutes, the water had gone up a foot, and was still rising. My cousins watched in horror as the water rose around all the cars, quickly filling up around the windows, and upto the bonnet. Petrol could be seen slowly leaving the car, in colourful pools around it.
They grabbed the dog, put her inside a basket, and with some things in their hands, they waded out into the water, which was now chest deep. They kept everything on the steps leading up to my grandparents house, and by the time they had gone back for a second trip, the water had risen another foot, and only my uncle was able to walk. They decided not to risk a third trip.
A lot of books, moved onto table tops, were lost, as was some furniture, and a majority of the electronics in the kitchen.
Once everyone was safely on the second floor, my grandmother called the security guard at her office. He reported that in the early hours of the morning, water had started entering the building(right against the Adayar river), and entering the basement, where my father and grandmother had their offices. The guard had been able to take only a few things off the table top, and the computers, before the water had completely filled up the basement. All the books my grandparents had collected on architecture over the last 50 years were gone.
That day, they did very little, just conserving the little battery they had on their phones, and using one phone, with my grandfathers sim, the only one which worked.
That night, in the silence, they sat on the balcony and had dinner. As they did, they heard boatmen down below demand thousands of rupees to rescue people. These people, desperate to get out, were agreeing to anything they asked for.
The next morning, we came and got them.
Back to December 4th.
My mother came back and reported on what she had seen. The fridge had toppled, most of the electronics were all over the house, and so was the furniture. Only the bar, made of old railway sleepers, could be salvaged. The glass cabinet was on its side. Strangely enough, they managed to upright it so gently, no glass was broken!
The fridge had only one item in it that had not gone bad: the butter. The Amul butter was ok enough to put on bread right there! Wierd.
We spent the next few days at Gandhi nagar. Ten days after the 3rd, around 12th or 13th of December, they moved back to Saidapet. My grandmother and father then cleaned out their offices, and within a few months of each other, moved out.
Things are back to normal now. Its been two years. Acts of heroism happendd those four days that are now part of the folklore of the city. People gave up space for strangers, or did acts of kindness they normally would not have. The city has been proud of how it coped during those four days of floods. For those four days were when we were affected most. the recent was the after-effects, and rightly should we be proud. No one from outside the state dared send any help. The centre did not speak about it in assembly, though media gave it some amount of attention.
The city lives on, proud, and rearing its head high. It knows it can take on whatever adversity is thrown at it, for we are a city that does not divide, and only unites, especially in times of difficulty.
The day was spent talking, and helping my grandparents, uncle and cousins out of their stressed mood. The ground floor of theirs was gone, but salvaging it would be attempted.
That afternoon, my mother and grandfather went, with my uncle, taking Raghu thatha's car, to assess the damage. Whole they were gone, I talked to my cousin, getting the whole story of what happened from the 1st morning, to the afternoon of the 3rd, when we came to get them.
On the morning of the 1st after coming back from school, my cousins had moved everything up a foot, on raised pieces of wood, or other items that were expendable, expecting a foot of water at most.
The next morning, the water had risen an inch at 6:45. My uncle had already moved the bar fridge, full of water bottles, and some provisions, to the first floor, so he assumed they would be fine.
Within ten minutes, the water had gone up a foot, and was still rising. My cousins watched in horror as the water rose around all the cars, quickly filling up around the windows, and upto the bonnet. Petrol could be seen slowly leaving the car, in colourful pools around it.
They grabbed the dog, put her inside a basket, and with some things in their hands, they waded out into the water, which was now chest deep. They kept everything on the steps leading up to my grandparents house, and by the time they had gone back for a second trip, the water had risen another foot, and only my uncle was able to walk. They decided not to risk a third trip.
A lot of books, moved onto table tops, were lost, as was some furniture, and a majority of the electronics in the kitchen.
Once everyone was safely on the second floor, my grandmother called the security guard at her office. He reported that in the early hours of the morning, water had started entering the building(right against the Adayar river), and entering the basement, where my father and grandmother had their offices. The guard had been able to take only a few things off the table top, and the computers, before the water had completely filled up the basement. All the books my grandparents had collected on architecture over the last 50 years were gone.
That day, they did very little, just conserving the little battery they had on their phones, and using one phone, with my grandfathers sim, the only one which worked.
That night, in the silence, they sat on the balcony and had dinner. As they did, they heard boatmen down below demand thousands of rupees to rescue people. These people, desperate to get out, were agreeing to anything they asked for.
The next morning, we came and got them.
Back to December 4th.
My mother came back and reported on what she had seen. The fridge had toppled, most of the electronics were all over the house, and so was the furniture. Only the bar, made of old railway sleepers, could be salvaged. The glass cabinet was on its side. Strangely enough, they managed to upright it so gently, no glass was broken!
The fridge had only one item in it that had not gone bad: the butter. The Amul butter was ok enough to put on bread right there! Wierd.
We spent the next few days at Gandhi nagar. Ten days after the 3rd, around 12th or 13th of December, they moved back to Saidapet. My grandmother and father then cleaned out their offices, and within a few months of each other, moved out.
Things are back to normal now. Its been two years. Acts of heroism happendd those four days that are now part of the folklore of the city. People gave up space for strangers, or did acts of kindness they normally would not have. The city has been proud of how it coped during those four days of floods. For those four days were when we were affected most. the recent was the after-effects, and rightly should we be proud. No one from outside the state dared send any help. The centre did not speak about it in assembly, though media gave it some amount of attention.
The city lives on, proud, and rearing its head high. It knows it can take on whatever adversity is thrown at it, for we are a city that does not divide, and only unites, especially in times of difficulty.
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