Things are still not back to normal in Mumbai’s financial capital. The city that survived bomb blasts, terrorists and other disasters, was brought to its knees by a few inches of water. It speaks volumes for the sorry state of the infrastructure in this megapolis.

Schools have re-opened, thank goodness! Keeping a hyperactive 6-year old indoors all day is asking for trouble. But people are still pretty subdued and lots of shops and establishments are shut. It’s like they’re still in shock. Like they never believed this could happen to them.

Communications are still shaky. Mobile connectivity is weak and ATMs were ruined by the floods. You never realise how much you depend on electronic communication and gadgetry until it becomes unavailable to you.

Makes you realise that all that talk of electromagnetic pulses used in electronic warfare is not just science fiction. At such times, it’s the good old modes of communications - like landlines - that prove the most reliable.

The surburbs were hardest hit with the flood waters reaching up to the first floor in areas like Andheri. Some homes were flooded in Vashi, including those belonging to my friends. We were lucky because our sector is a little higher than others. The waters reached higher than they ever had, but our homes were spared.

Others were not so lucky. Fires and landslides followed the floods. Hundreds have died. A friend of mine was aghast to see fire engines being diverted, to pump water out of basements in the bungalows of ministers and the moneyed class, instead of rescuing people. Another example of the screwed-up priorities we live with.

Read more accounts of Mumbai’s Terrible Tuesday here.