July 29, 2005

Mumbai Floods - Friends & Family accounts

Nishant sent some pics from his cam (shown on the left here) while Martin blogged a few. His brand new Nokia camera phone, with which he took some more pics, was eventuall stolen in the chaos. Carlton, Sudi and Amanda were stuck in traffic for more than 30 hours! Eshani reached home last noon, Neha at night. Both were stranded for the night. Divya stayed at a friend's place. Here's her story. Kashyap walked in neck length filthy water near Santacruz... "I saw dead people floating in water...trust that scene...it just doesn't go outta my sight".

Pooja's points (after I ask her for an update on the scene in Mumbai)...

  • we lost a neighbor - he suffocated in his car while his wife n driver became unconcious
  • cousin was stuck under a flyowver all nite
  • friends day took 25 hours to reach bandra from ghatkopar
  • the deaths in cars....almost 25 known cases
  • water entered my friends bunglow right above the bed, furniture was floating
  • i saw a dead bosy outside my friend's gate. man must have drowned
  • police didnt do a thing for over aday
  • electricity was gobe for over a day, still not restored in juhu
  • candles that cost 1 buck were selling for 50 rupees
  • no drinking water - ppl were selling in black
  • linking road had over 10000 cars stranded all through out
  • pitch dark - no place to move
  • ppl who cud abandoned the cars and left. some died in the cars
  • some lived n reached home a day later
  • water snakes on the rds
  • ppl i know have walked home ading thru water for 10 hrs
  • there was chin deep water in juhu and andheri
  • a bus was submerged in kalina
  • over a 1000 buffaloes have died
  • school kids were stranded in buses
  • massive trees fallen, poles fallen, roads are broken
  • the walls at carter road have holes - i think they must have broken deliberately
  • coz the water from the high tide n rain had made the thing like a pool
  • ppl were slipping in their houses in the dark cos they cusnt see the water
  • pitch blackness for over a day
  • i believe even in bandra where g7 is, they used navy boats to rescue ppl
  • ppl began mobbing my friend's merc for a ride whey didnt offer, they sat on their bonnets n boots
  • car locks and windows got jammed...thats how pl died
  • just imagine this man we know, he drowned in his own bldg compound and his body lay there for over a day
  • my neighbor cudnt even take his dad's body to delhi for the funeral coz of the flights
  • cooper hosp in juhu....the icus are tsill without water
  • there was a school kids and drivers body found outside utpal sanghvi...the famous school in juhu
  • my masi's ceiling thats below the terrace leaked n she kept slipping in the dark
  • her daughet was out with her college friend the entire nite. no ifo abt her. cells were dead, few mtnl lines wrkd
  • landslides in andheri at saki naka - over a 100 have died
  • lights flickering even now
Finally, Rashmi's take on a matter like this cannot be missed! To add my own take, my worry is the worst may seem to be over, but with all the filthy water everywhere and deaths, some of which may not even be discovered for a while, it could become a breeding ground for epidemics. God bless Mumbai.

July 11, 2005

Everyone's a director!

I had never tried the Windows Movie Maker earlier, but while I was touring across the country for Microsoft Tech.Ed 2005, it was my best and most easily available option for editing video clips we took from the event.

Surprisingly, it was so easy and cool to use it, and gave me all the features I need - text on video, credits, transitions - everything! I landed up finishing the edit job in 20 minutes flat :) The end result was lots of fun and people loved the video I finally inserted in the credits roll. Will try and upload it for all to see.