Salaam, Bombay!

When I went to IIT Powai for my MTech interview last year, I came back without an admit, but feeling inspired and awed by the magnificent city of Bombay. A visit to Dharavi alone was enough to give me an indication of what it means to be a Mumbaikar. When a million people can live in an area of 175 hectares, special bonds develop between them that enable them to face the incredibly poor sanitation, lack of hygiene and the overcrowded accomodation. The feeling that you get in Dharavi is not one of claustrophobia, but one of openness and acceptance. "We are all in this together", the residents seem to say with their actions. "All we've got is each other".

When I read about the terrible floods and the fire at Bombay High, I was terribly saddened, despite finding out that my relatives and friends in the city were all safe. Then I remembered Dharavi. Any place, where people have the kind of spirit I saw there, can take care of itself.

I was not mistaken. Here is an moving and inspiring eyewitness account of the stormy night by an advertising executive who found her way home from her workplace. Whatever the calamity, the gallant Mumbaikars will go on, undaunted, strengthened and heads held higher than ever.