Forced together

That day my mother was lazing in her favourite corner with a telugu magazine. I had just returned from college when out of the blue; water started seeping into the house. It had happened many times before. So we simply climbed onto our beds to avoid the water. As we were stuck, all we could do was stare out the window.
In a matter of few minutes, the flood had risen to knee length. Hence, we lost hope of the rain subsiding, and went upstairs to Asha aunty’s house. There we saw our other ground floor neighbours: the Roy family, the Shetty family and Shankaran family. The other members of the building had also come to console. This was the first time I saw all the residents of Harikripa come together in one tiny hall. Asha aunty was very pleased as she could play the host.
After a few hours Mr. Manjerekar suggested that we should bring our Television sets upstairs. So Uncle John’s son Verghese and I volunteered. We burst out laughing as we pulled out the 21” TV from my semi-flooded flat. It is yet to be known how it worked for a year without repair. By the end of the evening we, a total of 15 people including Asha auntys family, were the only ones left.
For the next two days the ground floor residents of Harikripa building had become homeless. We made the best of what food and water was left. As there was little water, each family would share one plate. With so many people under one roof, we kept each other entertained and tried not to get on any ones nerves. No one could complain about the stink as it could have been him/her.. We were cut from the outside world and tried to listen to the radio on our phones.
Ironically we were cramped up in a 650 square feet flat for 48 hours with those we couldn’t tolerate for more than 48 seconds.