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As New Delhi and Mumbai reeled under power cuts, traffic jams and flooded roads on Saturday, the tech savvy took to Twitter.
Actor-Director Farhan Akhtar, who was in Delhi, compared the city to Venice. “Today, Delhi is the Venice of the North. Where’s my gondola?” he tweeted.
In Mumbai, Hindi film actor Arshad Warsi professed his love for the rains. “Heavy rains, strong winds, great music & me drenched on my cycle, that's how I started my day today... I just love the monsoons.”
Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, articulated Delhi’s woes: “New Delhi reeling under monsoon flooding. Cars stuck on roads. Every surface drips. My home has had a crippling power blackout since 1.45 pm.”
Out on the road, NDTV’s Vikram Chandra tweeted: “Driving to work with water lapping against my door #Delhi #Venice.”
Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen got nostalgic on the micro-blogging site: “Rains in Delhi. But no rains like childhood rains, if mother is not around, if no tin roof, no khichuri, hilsa, or Tagore songs.”
Capital Chaos
Residents of both cities were soon advising others on what routes to avoid or were uploading pictures of submerged roads while ranting about traffic snarls and flooded facilities.
“Delhi International Airport flooded because of so-called heavy rains. Airport is now aptly not just for air, but can be used as port,” said Crystal, who uses the twitter handle þ@reasernated23h.
Senior Congress leader Priya Dutt tweeted: “Landed in Delhi and thought I was in Mumbai with the rain madness, traffic jams and flooding. Mumbai! we are better equipped to handle rain.”
Describing a traffic snarl, Keisar @Kesar_3m said, “Average speed of vehicles is 10 km/3 hours. Stay indoors or get a submarine.”
Several Delhiites complained about how the city was unable to handle rains. Arushi þ@A_Anthwal2h wrote, “I drove through a lake, I am not even kidding! Half of Delhi is submerged.”
Many felt frustrated. . Ashish Jainþ@ashishipcash asked, “Had a long traffic jam in Delhi NCR due to water logging... can’t we have proper drainage system after 65 years of independence ?”
Even the Mumbai twitterati complained about potholes and traffic jams.
asutoshþ@asutosh3m said, “Wanted: drivers who can spot the road amongst the potholes #Mumbai.”
Weekend washout
The rains washed away the weekend plans of corporate executives in the city. Up-timisticþ@ShubhraOmar4h wrote, “Earlier rain would wash sins, but now it washes weekend plans #UrbanLife #MumbaiRains.”
The rains also brought out the creativity in some. YashRajGoswami @aviDSays4h said, “The best things about #rains is that it's neither saffron nor green, neither Sanskrit nor English. It's either pleasing or chaos-inducing. ;).”
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