Independence Eve in India

Tomorrow, August 15th, is Independence Day here in India. Upon first hearing this, I was looking forward to checking out the event. However, after talking to my co-workers, unlike most places, where the Nation's creation is celebrated with gatherings and festivities everywhere, things here are very subdued, mostly due to security. Delhi itself (which is both the Capital and a state) goes into a military lockdown mode, with checkpoints into and out of it and a huge military presence. My colleagues told me that most people just spend the day at home with friends and family.

Alas, today's Bollywood dance class was cancelled so people could beat the rush home for the long weekend. At first, I didn't give this too much thought. Later, as I looked outside, the heavens opened, as it is presently the tail end of monsoon season here in India. The downpour was torrential. When it finished, the roads outside were not merely big puddles, but entire canals, filled 4 inches deep in water. City planners obviously hadn't thought through basic things like storm sewers for a city in the monsoon region. (More on this in a future post). Alas, I didn't bring my camera to work today, as the scene outside was incredible.

So my driver picked me up around 6PM, the start of rush-hour. Oh my god what an epic. Between the long weekend and the deluge, traffic was completely seized up. At one point it took us 15 minutes to go 100m. At our present rate, I was forecasting getting back to the hotel after midnight. I seriously thought of getting out and walking through the heavy drizzle at one point. Then, there is a knock on the window, and the current driver gets out, and is replaced with Suraj, the owner/driver of the taxi company that the hotel uses, and who occasionally drives me to work. Where he came from, I had no clue, but I've learned not to dwell too much on these imponderables here in India, as things like this just happen.

An older gentleman, Suraj is good; he knows Gurgaon (where I am staying/working) like the back of his hand, and where traffic is at what time. After another 15 minute crawl to the next intersection, he busts left, down a small service road, and speeds down all these quiet, winding back roads, and within 20 minutes, we are back at the hotel. What is normally a half hour drive was over and an hour and a half, and would have potentially been an all-nighter, if not for the mysterious appearance of Suraj and his stellar navigation skills.