Off the rain, Under a roof

Its raining in Bangalore everyday. The smell of the mud, the cold nights and greenery is back. The bad part though is that, it always rains in the evening, just when we leave office :(. Here is a fictional experience.

As the first drop of rain fell on my head, I geared up my bike, hoping to reach home before the rain starts pours. It was not just me, everyone on the road have accelerated and I knew it was an "On your mark, Get-Set-Go" moment. The drizzle slowly intensified while I waited for a long signal. The red light seemed permanent. Finally, when the green appeared, I was almost drenched.

The visibility was low and I felt driving further would be risky. Lucky, I was in the shopping district. So, I parked my vehicle and ran to the nearby shop. There was very little room for more people. I squeezed in and found a little spot. I removed my coat and helmet and breathed  the mesmerizing smell of mud. I stood there watching people and the shops around me. I realized I have never seen many shop though I had traveled the same route for years.

courtesy: www.sfbappa.org

Soon I felt bored, so I decided to do what everyone else did under an unknown roof, calling  those number, which we knowingly forgot. After about an hour, the rain had no signs of subsiding and I ran out of people I can talk to. Water in my clothes had dripped off and I was almost dry. So, I headed to the shop in which I had taken refuge, a branded show room. I didn't have any intension to shop yet I step in to checkout the casuals. The collections were good and tried half a dozen tees and tops. Finally picked 1 tee and went ahead to bill, expecting the rain must have stopped. Another half an hour had passed, the rain had not let up.

Mad with the rain, I headed to the cafe. Cafe was not crowded. I found a seat with the good view  to watch TV and ordered a cappuccino and a smoked chicken sandwich. While I called home to inform that I was stuck, the order had came. Then, it was me, the cappuccino and the smoked chicken sandwich spiced up with a gossip show on TV.

Ideally, drinking a hot coffee with some deli in a nice couch on a rainy day would just be perfect. But doing it alone was annoying. After about 15 - 20 mins, I couldn't take any more. I decided to drive in any case. Fortunately, as i fled down, I noticed the rain had stopped. No time to spare, I wore my coat, pressed on the vehicle and was finally heading back home.

Stuck in the heavy jam after the rain, I prayed "Thank you God for the rain! I just wish it doesn't rain when I leave office."

A Catastrophe

Hi All,

I didn't want to interrupt my Singapore-Malaysia Vacation blog, but this post was important and should be shared. So, I forced myself to find a little time in my fully packed schedule [:(]. Here is the catastrophe.

It was around 10 AM Sunday morning. I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Suddenly I heard a loud blast outside. At once heard shriek cry of a women. I ran to the balcony to check-out what was going on. In the opposite street, four building to the left, I saw a lady sitting in the stair-case and crying. Then people from the floor below were running up to the 4Th floor of the building.

I thought it might be a cylinder blast. I didn't see any fire. But, saw people carrying buckets of water and hose pipe. Soon people from neighboring streets gathered. Many even went up to the 4Th floor to take the glimpse of the havoc. The atmosphere was tensed.

I went to my room, one floor above, to alarm my husband of the tragedy. He was already in the balcony and he informed that when he heard the blast, the electricity switched off and switched on after a while. He assumed it might be electric shock mishap. Soon, a car rushed to the building to take the casualty to the hospital.

First,one man walked down with the carpet covering him. It was little relief. Then we saw four people holding the corners of a carpet and carrying a person down. We didn't know whether the person was male or female, kid or adult. It was a disturbing sight. The car rushed them to the hospital.

After a while, my father in-law came up, he said they were electrocuted while setting up the DTH connection. We discussed for a while the possible reasons and then set off to do our daily work.

Later the day we heard many stories. We saw policemen and press investigating the event. Finally we heard from a neighbor, the true story:

The family had just moved in to the building two days back. Two men from the house were setting up the DTH connection. There is a High Density electrical line that passes very close to the building. During re-installation of the dish TV, they have tried to pass a cable between the HD lines. The cable had touched the HD line and hence electrocuted them. One person suffered 30% burns and other who was carried in the carpet suffered 60% burns. Both are hospitalized and under treatment.

Thank God, there was no death. But 60% burns isn't a good news either.

A gloomy day. But eye-opener for the hundreds who witness the catastrophe. I have tried to portray the events, believing it would bring alertness to more people. Please get an electrician while relocating. Is a few hundreds more precious than life?

Prayers for the injured and the family.