Stranded!

There are some things which you never think will happen to you till they actually do. I had heard first hand stories of people being stranded in cities or cars due to rains, volcanic ash or something else. I never thought it would happen to me, though, there was no reason why it would not. This is a real account of what happened with me and my colleague during the recent Chennai floods where we were stranded on Chennai Airport for 36 hours.

I reached Chennai on the afternoon of Monday, 30th November. I had seen the weather forecast while I was packing my bag and saw that there was 100% chance of rain on Tuesday. It didn't change my plans much as I knew I would be shuttling between different locations in a cab and would be back to Pune on Tuesday night. My drive from the airport to my relatives house was quite uneventful. It did drizzle a bit but everything was normal. In a few hours though around 7.30 PM, it started raining and it just didn't stop. It rained the entire night and was raining in the morning of Tuesday too. I had 3 meetings on Tuesday in Chennai. As the day progressed, all three got cancelled due to the rain.

My colleague had come to Chennai since Sunday and he had hired a car with a driver so we had transportation to go to the airport. We left for the airport at 5 PM for a 10:20 PM flight. Normally the journey doesn't take more than an hour so even with the expected traffic and water logging we figured we will reach in maximum two hours and then will have to kill time there. How wrong were we to be proved later! The traffic was so bad that we covered barely 5 kilometers in 2.5 hours. We were literally inching our way forward. But apart from one water logged road there wasn't any problem.

All that changed when we reached an area called Guindy. We had taken a diversion and were about to join a main road. The road was one way with a huge divider. Our driver stepped out for a bio-break and came back saying there's a lot of water. Most of the traffic was trying to get to the farther side of the divider where it was not water logged. Our driver lost patience (anyone would) and took the car in the near side and we were now in water. We quickly put our windows down in the event that if the doors don't open we had an escape route. Suddenly we felt water coming into the car. It rose up to seat almost and we knew the time was coming near to get out of the car. As expected, the car stalled and now we had no option but to get out. We quickly took our laptop bags and suitcases out. The water had entered the boot as well. We started wading through knee deep water with our bags over our heads and got to the other side. A lot of people had got out of cars and were walking. We tried to see if there were any hotels nearby where we could stay before figuring out the next plan of action.

At this point, we met our first angel. A traffic policeman upon hearing our predicament, started stopping every possible car to see if they could get us to the airport. This was a man with his hands overfull with the rain, water and traffic but willing to help two strangers who were clearly not from this city or state. After 6 cars refused to help for valid reasons, we met our second angel. This stranger said he will drop us to the airport without even mentioning any financial remuneration. Later we found out he didn't even want to go to the airport but went out of the way to drop us there. Such instances of strangers going out of their way to help those in need have been the cornerstone of the recovery in the Chennai floods.

On the airport we quickly changed into whatever remaining dry clothes that we have. That was a bit hard to find so my ensemble was a formal shirt, shorts and leather shoes. I wasn't too worried as function was more important than fashion and I was expecting to be in Pune in a few hours. We were checked in by our airline and told that the flight was on time. The airport was already very crowded though and there was no space in the lounge. We were hungry so we had a good dinner where we got a message saying our flight has been delayed to 12 midnight. However around 10 PM we heard the news that all flights have been cancelled and the airport is shut down. Having seen the condition of the roads outside the airport we knew that there is no way for going out. Thus started our marathon stay at the airport.

At the airport, we were near the departure gates. Hence there was no dearth of options to eat, drink or even buy a few supplies. I bought myself a book to combat the boredom and some socks to combat the cold. We spread some newspapers on the carpet and also got some sleep. Though it was not the most comfortable option it wasn't bad. We could hear the rain pouring down throughout the night and there was a TV showing the local news. One look at the horrible condition of the people in the low lying areas and we thanked our stars that we were stuck at the airport and not outside. We had continuous electricity along with food and water. The airport was the safest place that night.

The next morning we saw the condition of the runway and taxi area and we knew then and there that no flight will take off. The area was completely submerged with water.

In no condition to take-off

Chennai Airport shut down

After one night at the airport everyone was in a frenzy to get out. People were trying to arrange for cabs but of course no company in their right senses would send a cab to the airport. It was just impossible to get there due to the flooded roads. There were people trying to arrange buses to go to Bangalore. All this was being done by passengers. The airlines were helpless and the airport authority too didn't have any constructive message. It seemed as if no one was ready to take a call on the evacuation nor were they confident that the passengers should stay put at the airport. We kept getting snippets of information from airport and airline officials. It was up to us whom to trust and take our call. Luckily we also had some local experts telling us not to get out of the airport as the situation in the city was quite bad. I had no mobile coverage while my colleague had sporadic coverage that too in one particular location of the airport. We were using the plug point near a TV to charge our phone and a landline to call at home.

In the afternoon, there was an announcement that there will be buses which will go to Bangalore. On hearing this everyone crowded near the exit. There were 400 - 500 people with all their luggage crowding near 1 small door. The buses showed no signs of coming and when we told our plan to go to Bangalore to local experts they were quite skeptical because the water hadn't receded. After some time we heard that the buses were arranged on the insistence of some passengers and was not an airport authority initiative. We took a call to not get on the buses which we anyway might have missed due to the sheer volume of people trying to get on them. It meant one more night at the airport but our reasoning was that it would be better than getting stranded in the middle of a water logged road.

Since we had now come in to the arrival area our options for food were quite limited. Still there was a CCD outlet there and we had stocked up on some food and sweets. Again, our airline called us to give us dinner. I keep on mentioning the food part because of an article which I read in the Times of  India, Pune edition on Saturday where one of our fellow passengers is complaining about not getting anything to eat from Tuesday night to Wednesday night. This is complete over exaggeration. We were stuck in the same place and had multiple options to eat along with airlines themselves giving meals. Even if the airlines didn't provide meals, you could get a wholesome meal veg or non-veg for 100 - 150 rupees. It was really disappointing to read this in the paper considering the horrible state of the local people caught in the floods throughout Tamil Nadu.

Our options to sleep were now slightly limited as there are no carpets in the arrival area. However my colleague resourcefully found a carpet area on the conveyor belt. We spread newspapers there and made our bed. I also spotted a Sari shop and remembering that I felt cold the previous night, I bought the cheapest sari from the shop to use as a blanket. Thus our second night also passed peacefully.

We woke up to a dark Chennai airport the next morning. In the middle of the night the power ran out due to water. This was a clear sign for us to now think of evacuating the airport as now there was no electricity and limited food options available. Thankfully the rain had receded significantly and we hadn't heard of any problem for for the 5-6 buses which went out last night. Right on cue, we heard news that a bus was about to arrive at the airport. This bus would then take us to a metro station from where we were to catch the metro to another station and take a bus to Bangalore. Thus, there were 3 legs of the journey to safety.

The first leg from Chennai Airport to Alandur metro stations was uneventful. There was one patch of road which was water logged with a big crater but the bus didn't have a problem. The metro station was crowded but manageable and we got into the metro. The metro was over-ground and went very slowly but without any problems. However, on this journey we saw the terrible state of the city and its people. There were cars stranded and parked on flyovers as it was impossible to go further. People were wading through chest deep water with bags on their heads. Ground floors and first floors of buildings were completely submerged. Bridges were underwater or completely filled with debris. Cars were left stranded half under water. The journey was an eye-opener to how lucky we were to be at the airport in a dry place with power, food and water.

Once again, locals helped us out by telling us the correct station to get out on which was CMBT station. There we found a bus to take us to Bangalore. That journey was also uneventful and once we reached the highway we knew we were safe. We stayed in a hotel in Bangalore that night and came back to Pune 3.5 days later than scheduled.

One thing which irked me a lot was the unverified and false reporting done by the media. On Thursday night in Bangalore I saw a news flash on Times Now that 1000 people were stranded at the airport. This was totally false. When we left the domestic terminal there were less than 100 people on the airport. Such false reporting adds to the fear and panic of those watching the news. One good friend who helped a lot in Chennai posted on Facebook saying just go by social media where you are more likely to get verified first hand information rather than news channels.

Coming to the airlines, while there wasn't much they could do in the wake of a natural or man-made disaster, it didn't stop them from making a huge profit in these conditions. The Bangalore to Pune flight on Thursday night was for 25,000 rupees. Bangalore to Delhi was even more than that while Bangalore - Indore - Delhi was 56,000 rupees! We get angry when rickshaws charge double rates. This was even worse. 

As I write this, the recovery has begun in Tamil Nadu and things are slowly getting better. Hopefully the sun will start shining brightly again, but the real ray of sunshine has been the unselfish work done by so many good Samaritans to help those in need.

The Decision

This story is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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It was their second "arranged" meeting. She always liked the second meeting more. It was so much better than the first meeting which felt more like a job interview but at a much more personal level. Frankly, she was tired of regurgitating her education, jobs, likes, dislikes, aspirations, hobbies to so many unknown people. She wondered whether she should follow her best friend's modus operandi of communicating the mundane details via email and then deciding whether or not to meet in person. Maybe if this doesn't work out she would. On the other hand, if this worked out she may never have to do this again ever!

Prima facie, things were looking quite good. He was good looking with a pleasing personality. He worked in the same field as hers which she didn't mind. She liked to talk about her work and liked having a sounding board at the end of the day. He had lived abroad for 2 years which was great as she believed international exposure and living alone gives you a good outlook towards life. Her mother had screened him out of the multiple possible profiles so that meant he and his family had checked all the boxes in her mom's list as well. 

Tonight, on his suggestion they had come to her favorite Italian place. She was quite shocked when he suggested the venue but then remembered her Facebook check in at the same restaurant a week ago with a million hashtags to go along with it. She wondered whether it was a good move accepting his friendship request but anyway there wasn't much to hide now. Plus she did plan to go over his profile in detail later too.

The dinner was going very well. Having moved past the initial standard questions of the first meeting, they were having a great time discussing their friends, travel destinations, past and current bosses, work experiences in India and abroad and what not. The conversation was flowing as was the wine which she had ordered. It pleased her a great deal that he hadn't batted an eyelid when she ordered the wine and even gave her company. He clearly wasn't a wine drinker and it showed. But it was sweet of him.

Their main course - Napolitana Pizza was served by the waiter. He thanked the waiter and started serving her a piece. She liked the fact that he was polite to the waiter. Her mind went back to a scene from Lage Raho Munna Bhai and she smiled. She took a bite of the pizza slice and suddenly realized how hungry she was.

S (She): I forgot how hungry I am. We should just forget the niceties and attack the pizza.

H (He): Like they do in Satte pe satta??

S: Wow, I'm impressed. You're an Amitabh fan?

H: Of course. From Deewar to Shamitabh. Seen them all!

She was thrilled at this bit of information. Her friends were all movie buffs and a lot of their jokes revolved around movie dialogues.

S: I also love Amitabh. I was actually inspired by the Bombay Talkies story and was planning to meet him somehow.

H: Sure. Let's go murabba shopping and go to Mumbai.

S: Who do you like among the current crop? By current I mean those who started in the 90s.

H: Well, I used to love Aamir Khan. But after his recent comments, I have started hating him. I don't understand why he has to say such things about India. He should just leave rather than saying anything.

A glass shattered in her mind. Or maybe it actually did in the restaurant.

S: Excuse me? Have you actually heard what he said? He repeated a private conversation with his wife in which she asks him whether they should leave India. To which he says it's a disastrous statement to make. From this how do you infer that he is ready to jump on the next plane out of India??

H: Look, I don't understand how can he talk this way about my country especially after Indians have made him so successful. I mean how much are we supposed to pamper these people?

In her mind the words "we" and "these people" triggered alarm bells. She started remembering patterns from long arguments with friends, colleagues, family members. She wondered whether she should talk about the dangers of generalization, responsibilities of a majority but she knew this wasn't the time or place. Plus lately she had started to feel a bit resigned as she wasn't making any headway in these arguments and was spoiling her mood nevertheless.

S: I think let's switch to another topic.

H: Yes, no problem.

She thought maybe he also felt the same way and wanted to steer clear of troubled waters.

The rest of the evening went off peacefully but it wasn't the same. There was some tension and both were more formal now. After they asked for the bill, the waiter came to their table and presented her with the feedback form and him with the bill which irked her as usual. She told him they should go Dutch and he agreed which she liked. After dinner he offered to drop her home as it was quite late though it was out of his way.

Her mother was eagerly waiting for her at home. 

Mother(M): How was it? Did you have a good time? Did you decide on anything?

S: It was fine mom, but I don't want to talk about it now.

Her mother dropped the topic, knowing that she could get through to her in the morning.

In her room, she didn't sleep immediately. In fact she stayed up for a long time thinking about the incident and his words. She thought about making a pros and cons list as she used to for many decisions but she knew the cons part will contain just 1 big point. And it was that point which was going to be the deciding factor, nothing else. 

Later she did go through his Facebook profile. She found a lot of common interests and some mutual friends too. But she also saw that he had shared quite a few posts which she thought were jingoistic and illogical. These were the same posts which used to appear on her timeline as some of her friends and family used to share them.

She knew she had to make a decision now. She could have analyzed more but there wasn't much to gain from that. She decided to sleep on it and convey her decision tomorrow to her mother.

In the morning, as expected, her mother asked her about last night.

M: So how did it go? Did you decide anything?

S: Yes, I have decided not to go ahead with this guy.

M: (shocked) Why? I thought things were going very well. He was exactly what you were looking for. In fact, he was exactly what I was looking for too!

S: Yes. A lot of things about him are good. But our way of thinking doesn't match especially our liberal and secular values.

M: Oh god. Please don't start again. You can't reject him for that reason.

S: Why not? Did you not reject guys because they were from a different caste or were not tall enough or didn't earn as much as me? Even after I told you that I don't care about these things?

M: Yes, but those things are important. They would have created problems later. It would have been difficult to adjust.

S: It's the same logic. These things are very important to me. And I'm sure it will either lead to a lot of arguments later or I will stop speaking my mind to my husband which would be worse.

M: But maybe you can change his thinking. Why don't you give it a chance? Such a guy who ticks all boxes won't come again.

S: Do you really think I can change his thinking? Haven't you heard my arguments with your brother? Have I made any dent in his extremist views? I don't think so.

M: Please think about this. This is your life we're talking about.

S: Yes, exactly....

Quiet, please, thank you!

It was more than 2 years ago, in April 2013, that I first saw the Centre Court at Wimbledon. I had gone to the UK for a vacation and to meet my wife (girlfriend at that time) who was completing a 6 month course at Oxford. We stayed in London for a while, went south to the beautiful Isle of Wight and then up north to the even more beautiful Scotland. I made the customary pilgrimage to Lords while in London but somehow Wimbledon got postponed to the last day. We almost couldn't manage it but I was determined to not miss the chance. I didn't know when I would be back so with a kya pata, kal ho na ho or YOLO (as they call it now) attitude we went to SW19. But the moment we entered the grounds and finished a fantastic tour at Centre Court, we decided that this is one thing which shouldn't just remain as a 'Bucket List' item.

What followed from that point on was a series of extremely unlikely and unbelievable events. Two very good friends moved to UK for work that year. They being tennis fans themselves were already planning on watching The Championships. On my birthday, it was they who got the best gift - 2 tickets to watch Rafael Nadal play on Centre Court. This strengthened the resolve to watch Wimbledon even more and we then decided it was time to start planning a UK trip around Wimbledon 2015.

Of course, planning things so well in advance is not always easy. It's like when you get a big break before an exam. You are always lured into that false sense of complacency before realizing that the exam is just 2 days away and you have wasted a week. But we got the ball rolling and started our research on 2 things - Flight options and Wimbledon tickets. The former was quite easy. Though we still didn't figure out the best time to book tickets (between too early and late), we weren't too bothered about that. But the Wimbledon tickets were a different matter.

We found out that there were 3 ways in which you could get tickets:-

1. Ticketmaster - A limited number of tickets are sold online on this website on the previous day. But it's not as easy as it sounds. This is 10 times harder than getting a tatkal ticket. Having said that, our friends got tickets from here itself. So I would say it is more like getting a positive result in Pune University revaluation process. You can keep trying and you might succeed once in 5 years.
2. Online Ballot - There are different ballots for locals and overseas residents. The ballot starts in November and it's a simple online form. Again, the number of people applying is humongous. To quote the term on the Wimbledon website - "the ballot is substantially oversubscribed".
3. Queuing - The Wimbledon queues are legendary. You might need to queue for 10 hours to get tickets. If you want a slight chance to get Centre Court tickets then you need to camp out the night before on the golf course with your tent and food. So that means you need to queue about 15 hours before. 

Not wanting to miss out on the chance of seeing Wimbledon after travelling all the way from India, we planned to try all three options. We applied for the Online overseas ballot in November, we made plans to queue the night before and we planned to try our luck with Ticketmaster the day before. With these things in mind and after looking at many flight options, we booked our tickets in February 2015. Now, I'm not a believer in destiny or the law of attraction but just a week after we booked our flight tickets, I got an email which said "We are pleased to offer you a pair of tickets for Tuesday June 30 for CENTRE COURT".

I couldn't believe it and still can't comprehend the luck of getting Centre Court tickets through the Online Ballot. Some times I wonder if we hadn't booked the flight tickets, would we have still got the Wimbledon tickets? Is the law of attraction real?

Now it was easier to plan the rest of the trip. We booked tickets for a musical, a cricket match, planned a trip to Oxford and then to Cornwal. But now the excitement was which matches will we get to see. The schedule for a particular day  is not revealed till the previous evening. We knew we would be watching Petra Kvitova since the Ladies Champion plays on Day 2. We knew we would not be watching Novak Djokovich since the Gentleman's champion plays on Day 1. But the biggest question on our mind was would we watch Roger Federer or not. Though I am a Rafa fan, I have always been amazed by Federer's elegance and his backhand. Plus there are some people who you need to watch in certain venues. E.g. Sachin at Wankhede, VVS at Kolkata. In the same way I wanted to watch Federer at Centre Court and Rafa at Roland Garros. I wasn't too excited to see Murray. For some reason I've never been attracted to his style of play. But there was a very good chance of that happening since he was the local favorite. 

I still remember when I first found out the 'Order of Play'. My wife and I were on Putney station and my cousin had messaged me saying I would be watching Federer play. But I wanted to cross-check before I jumped to the conclusion. I checked on the Wimbledon App and on the website and saw match number 2 for Centre Court Day 2 - Damir Dzumhur v/s Roger Federer. At 11 PM on Putney station, 2 mad Indians were jumping up and down unable to believe that a dream which started 2 years ago was going to come true in less than 24 hours.

Now, we had been to the Wimbledon grounds and on Centre Court 2 years ago but being there on match day was something completely different. When we actually took our seats in Centre Court and the players walked out, we really had to pinch ourselves. After watching Wimbledon on TV for more than 20 years, we were actually there on Centre Court watching live action. The ladies champion Kvitova made short work of her opponent and much as I would have liked to see more of a fight, I was happy that I would get to see Federer that much sooner.

Then the moment came and out he walked onto the immaculately cut hallowed grass of Centre Court Wimbledon. It's hard for me to describe the joy of watching Federer play. He just personifies the words grace and elegance. Some times when a great batsman plays the cover drive or the straight drive you go 'aaah'. Watching Federer play make you go like that on almost every shot. I didn't take many photos or videos and I am glad. Glad because you need to experience the moment without any distraction. 

When the second set ended, we really hoped that Dzumhur will take the third set. And even the fourth. Anything which would give us more time to watch the master. But alas it wasn't to be and the match ended in 3 sets. The local favorite Andy Murray played next and though it was great watching him play and listening to the surprisingly vociferous Brits, the difference in class showed. It was Murray who made me miss Federer even more.

Our lucky streak continued and even though only 3 matches were scheduled at Centre Court, we got a bonus match! Caroline Wozniaki played Saisai Zheng in the match which was originally scheduled at Court No. 1. Some people just don't appreciate what they have and left the court. Good for us as we went really close to watch the match taking the vacant 1000 GBP seats. Mind you, it was good that we had 50 GBP seats earlier as it was extremely hot but we were in the shade since we were very high up in the stands. The expensive ticket holders were the ones fanning themselves with whatever they could find.

The wonderful day almost over we walked on the grounds trying to catch the matches on the other courts. Our day ended eating the very traditional Strawberries with Cream soaking in the atmosphere at Henman Hill, content in the thought that some dreams do come true.