‘Gurgaon not worth living in’: A man’s rain ordeal to bring daughter home

The school (Heritage Xperential) sent an email around 12.00 pm (about an early dispersal). From then on, I kept tracking the school bus location on an app they have. When I went downstairs, the app showed the bus was still 35 minutes away. I am a 6-foot guy, and the water on the road was already up to my waist. I am a resident of Uniworld Gardens near Subhash Chowk, and looking at the flooded stretch, I realised the bus was never going to make it here.

I kept thinking: How do I get there?

We figured out that the bus was stuck in Rail Vihar. I coordinated with Meetu Gupta, another parent from our society whose daughter was also stuck. We called the bus driver and finally figured out its exact location. With one of my friends, I stepped out and started walking on the highway. We were drenched. One of my phones malfunctioned, and my wallet went for a toss. When we reached the spot, what we saw was harrowing. At least 10 buses were stranded in a row, and inside were very young children, nursery and KG types.

Because of the ongoing Metro construction, they have broken everything. The walk through the waterlogged debris, spanning more than half a kilometre, felt more intense and gruelling than the trek to Vaishno Devi. We located the bus and took Meetu’s daughter and my daughter out. Then we started walking towards our society. As we were moving, I got calls from other parents asking to help bring their kids too. I gave Meetu her daughter, told her to stay there, and turned back to get more children.

I brought about 6 to 7 kids back, making them walk in a single line towards the society. I could not have let my kid or anyone else walk unattended there and risk drowning. I had to tread treacherously to avoid open potholes; the whole of Gurgaon was an absolute mess. Older students from Class 7 and 8 held onto my hands and my T-shirt; others held their bags, and I carried my 5-year-old daughter in my arms. I dropped my daughter home first and went back out to help others whose parents were also struggling to get to their kids.

My daughter was pretty terrified and exhausted. Looking at the flooded streets, she asked me innocently, “Is it Holi? Why is there water everywhere?” A moment later, she said, “I’m shivering and hungry,” and it broke me. I felt an overwhelming sense of anger and helplessness.

Several school buses were stranded in Gurgaon after heavy rain on Monday. PTI

That anger was towards the authorities. We pay hefty taxes and exorbitant school fees, and this is how the city is maintained? I hate it now. They should have issued proper warnings and managed the roads. The worst part of the ordeal was the helplessness inside those buses. For security reasons, the bus staff said they couldn’t let everyone off without parental consent. I was ready and willing to take all the children safely to Uniworld. There was a young UKG kid looking right at me, hoping I would take him out of that bus, but I didn’t know his father personally. That broke my heart. That poor child, who lives in my society, was able to reach home only by 5.45 pm.

The entire rescue took me nearly 1.5 hours. With roads choked and people stranded everywhere, I left home at 2:20 pm and finally returned only at 4:40 pm. My wife was so worried that she, too, had stepped out and started walking towards Subhash Chowk despite the water being above waist level. Both of us were in utter shock.

The administration and schools showed a complete lack of empathy for those with young kids. There was no real-time communication; no one called or emailed to update us. It was pathetic. In my professional life, I manage a team of 45 people, and we make sure there is basic courtesy and communication; here, the authorities showed none.

Today, the schools shifted to online classes. If they hadn’t done that, there was no way I would have sent my daughter. I will not put her life at risk because of their incompetence.

Gurgaon is simply not worth living in anymore. We don’t want to live here. My family goes through this hell every single year despite the high taxes we pay to the government and the hefty rents. We are now seriously mulling moving out of Gurgaon once this academic session ends.