Can you pick up my child please, Manika?
I don't have a driver...don't know how to drive...what will happen?
Manika, he doesn't know you...he will get really scared...what to do?Call and messages flooding my phone as I rush to pick up my children today from their school in Gurgaon, which has dissolved into a gigantic mess after heavy rain.
This morning, I got this SMS from my children's school - "Dear Parent, This is to inform you that given the weather conditions all parents are welcome to pick up their wards early both car as well as bus children. However buses will ply as usual in the afternoon and staff will be on campus till all students are dispersed."
Frantic parents rushed from all of Gurgaon and Delhi to pick up their children (remember a lot of Delhi kids attend school in neighbouring Gurgaon).
Pouring rain, awful traffic jams, broken roads in what was bragged about as our Millennium City are only making matters worse.
But why did the school decide this in the middle of the day? To sort of call the day short? Well, the Gurgaon schools are not at fault. This morning, local administration officers started calling schools in the city asking them to shut for the day. Of course this was after school buses had picked up children to take them to school. In many cases, students had already reached their campus.
After the government's phone call, some schools asked their buses to turn around and drop the children home. Others decided to take a chance.
So why did the Gurgaon administration not take these measures last night? Were the 4-6 hour long jams that were widely reported not an indicator of what was to follow today?
Last night, starting around 7 pm, people in the city simply abandoned their cars and walked home for kilometres, getting home only at midnight or later. (I dread to think of what single women or families with children went through.)
Is the rain forecast now on every smart phone not available to the Haryana government? Or were gaping holes filled with water suddenly going to repair themselves?
The state government plans to spend 50 crores and use its remaining MNREGA funds to revive the lost Saraswati! The river doesn't need to be found, it's flowing on the streets of Gurgaon.
As I reach school, there's utter chaos.
All I hear around me....
where's my child? I have to catch a flight..please can I get my child first.Someone on a phone...
they are not letting me pick her up...they are saying only parents allowed.And then someone said to me, "Hai Ram, Hai Jam!"
Manika Raikwar Ahirwal is Managing Editor and Editor (Integration) with NDTV.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.