Driving in the rain

After several months, it rained last week in Chennai. I was quite excited and watched the rain pouring down through the glass panes at office. It looked so beautiful.

That was when I realized that it was almost six in the evening and I had brought my bike to office. I had to leave before it started raining heavily and the traffic got bad. I have had some experience in driving in the rain. A few years back, I had taken my mother for shopping and we got stuck in the rain while travelling back. The advantage I had that day was that it was a weekend and mid afternoon. 

This time, I did not want to take any chances and thought I could beat the traffic if I left at 6 pm. When I got closer to the exit ramp, a big queue had already formed near to the exit and vehicles were moving at a slow pace. The exit ramp had a divider in the middle. The right side was a little wide and was for cars while the left side was for two wheeler and cycles. That day, the left side was completely blocked. Vehicles were able to move only on the right side. 

While driving out of the basement, I noticed that the left side of the exit was blocked because many people had parked their bikes right in the path. They must have wanted to drive out and then decided not to venture out until the rain stopped. I slowly made my way out. Although my bike skidded a little while going over the road bump they had put up near the exit, I managed to not fall down. I was scared and parked the vehicle near the foot path where fellow riders had done the same.

After standing there for a few minutes, I decided that there was no point in waiting. I was completely drenched, my clothes were wet. The water level in the roads were not going to go down and traffic would only get worse. Making the decision, I immediately started my bike and drove in the heavy rain.

I couldn't take two of the smaller roads that I usually took since the water level was so high. I drove at a very slow speed and let many vehicles over-take me. I had no idea why people wanted to drive fast and overtake others while it was raining. They are all insane!!!

I had just one goal - reach home safely no matter what happens and how much time it takes.

The road conditions were really bad, there was water clogging in many roads. It grew darker since it was raining continuously and almost all the street lamps were switched off. I was not able to figure out where the potholes were on the road. In fact I had driven my bike right into three to four big potholes on the way. I felt so cold and had to keep wiping the water droplets that had fallen on my helmet visor and the rear mirror on the bike. On top of this, the cars and the vans that drove parallel to my bike, kept splashing water onto my bike. 

Finally I reached home after one and a half hours. I was glad that me and my bike were back home without encountering any mishap 👏 It was a good experience. I was scared but I needed this experience.

After cleaning up, I went and hugged my dad. He was surprised. I told him that I understood what he must have gone through while driving the car and the scooter during the rainy seasons.

Old memories of him dropping me off, waiting for me and picking me up from the IIT entrance coaching classes even during the heavy rains came back to me. The coaching center was situated in a low lying area that was always flooded during the rainy season. Those days we did not even own a car. We only had a Bajaj scooter. No matter how heavy the rain was, he was always there to drive me to the coaching center.

Iam sure people would think that Iam making a big deal about this. This is what everyone does every day. Well, they could say all they want. For me, my dad is a hero!!!