Author: Smita Nair
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 1, 2005
URL: http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=141887&creation_date=2005-08-01
The comfort of home. A loo. And
garam chai. More than 300 stranded citizens got just what they wanted-packed
into the two-bedroom homes of two Sion families.
Raise a toast to the Udanis and
the Ruparels, and their common friends, the Sheths, of Jai Durga apartments,
just off Sion Circle.
Pharmacist Rajesh Udani (36) watched
the cars on the Sion Flyover, opposite their balcony, immobile all of Tuesday
night.
''On Wednesday when we saw no help
coming from any authorities we decided to intervene,'' said Rajesh Udani
(36), who reached his first-floor apartment at Jai Durga at midnight, Tuesday,
after being stuck at work in South Mumbai.
Along with the Ruparels of the ground
floor-Harish Ruparel(51), wife Jayshree (50), daughter Pooja (22) and grand
mother Zaver Behn (75)-Rajesh and wife Rupa (35), their nine year old daughter
Siddhi, and common friends Rajendra (42) and Pratima Sheth (40), launched
the relief operation.
The strategy: the men directed the
commuters to the flats. The ladies helped with the food and the kids served.
They made 4 kg of potato bhaji,
batches of small rotis in 100s and gave upto 1,000 water bottles between
the two homes.
''We Gujratis are fond of eating,''
mused Rajesh who stood for more than an hour in a queue for milk. ''I managed
only half a litre, so then we started making black tea.''
And take a look at Rajesh's ration
card on Wednesday : 5 kg of sugar.
''The first family we took in were
stranded in a huge sports utility vehicle at Sion Flyover for two days.
They communicated by sign language that they needed help,'' said Rajesh.
''We just told them to come on over
and rest,'' smiled Rupa. She recalled having said hello to maybe 100 strangers-mostly
women and kids-who streamed in and out of the toilet.
Pooja Ruparel, in Mumbai for a short
holiday. was also put to the job. ''I was designated to fill water in bottles,''
she said. Father Harish explained how the bottles were lined up in their
ground floor balcony on Wednesday.
''The commuters never stooped walking,''
he said. ''They rested awhile and kept walking. Once they saw the bottles,
they knew this was sign of help.''
Rajendra Seth was given the job
of running across bottles and rolls of roti and bhaji to other commuters
stuck in traffic across Sion, assisted by his son and Udani's daughter
Siddhi.
''We did what felt right.
We couldn't see the drama on television
and look on without helping,'' said Rajesh. Later, on Wednesday night,
he and Rajendra stopped empty state transport buses. They fought with drivers
and made them give lifts to about 200 commuters.
Zaver Behn has seen it before. In
1991, she remembers, a girl left jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh with her. ''I
stood at the door smiling at every stranger,'' she said. ''If it happens
again, our door will always be open.''