[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Crises bring out the best and the worst of humanity. Mumbai triumphs once again!

People helping the needy are heroes everywhere, irrespective of social strata and economic status, but that tweet is absolutely shameful.

There are bad people everywhere and there's absolutely no need to play the 'we're better than someone else' card, when he could've easily picked any of the bunch of heroic instances of Americans helping fellows Texans in the current crisis, reported by the exact same media.

Helping fellows humans is not a competition.

[PPS]

It took more than 1hr from Haji Ali to Copper Chimney,Worli at 4pm, so just turned back & went to my Dad's office & stayed put there till 9pm. There was quite a bit of flooding at Nana Chowk & Worli. Then finally left from Tardeo at 9pm & reached home at Malad at 11pm. There was still standstill traffic at Bandra Reclamation after the Tollbooth so took Linking rd upto Milan ROB & then onto WEH.
Luckily there was Dad's car around else it would've been quite a struggle for me, would have chosen to stay put in my office instead!

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys,Even the Sealink has been closed due to poor visibility:

Sealink was very very windy at 10am in the morning. Felt someone was pushing the car!

Am hearing bad things about submerged luxury cars,

Lost count of the number of Mercs & Beemers which broke down right from Worli to Santacruz. So many other cars were lying abandoned in the middle of the road to the dividers on Linking Road!

[sjain2054]

It was a tough day. People in office who hadn't experienced this before were panicking.

Most of us planned to stay put in office and wait till things cleared out!

At 5pm, group of 3 from Navi Mumbai wanted to attempt going to Worli Naka for their shuttle. I volunteered to drop them but there was a lot of water clogging and my Nano couldn't take it so, after 200m, I had to turn back to office!

The engine heating red light started flashing in the digital cluster! Never in my 8 years of Nano ownership have I seen that light flash! And I have done some serious driving with the Nano!!

After three hours, I took a walk to check the situation and all the water had cleared. But the Nano's flashing warning in the digital cluster was the same even after 3 hours of cooling down.

So I convinced 4 of my marketing team members to come to my house. You know I live close by so I got home in 15mins flat! This was by 9pm. Note that warning light went off on its own within 5 mins of driving the Nano!

Finance team continued in office (out of choice). They planned to spend the night in office.

At home, while we were having dinner, I realized that it hasn't rained in a while and we could try getting a black yellow taxi. So, despite their hesitation to risk it, I took 2 western line colleagues to Worli Naka and got them a taxi somehow.

The risk was worth it as they got to their destination in time. I got them the taxi at 10pm and they had reached Kandivili by 12.30am.

At Worli Naka, I met another fellow from our office. He had been frantically looking for a cab to get to his house in South Mumbai! Dropped him to Kemp's corner and went back to my office in Lower Parel to pick up the 4 Finance team members and bring them home.

Finance team wanted to try and check trains from Dadar so we drove through knee deep water in the Nano to get to Dadar station but the trains were still down. So drove through the same water to come back. No water entered the Nano in waist deep water driving! This was with 5 well fed people in the car!!!

Then 2 of them told me to drop them at Lalbaug cha Raja (they seemed comfortable doing the darshan and trying their luck with a taxi later on)

Other 2 came home with me. 2 other marketing team members were already at my place all this while.

I put up the only girl at my cousin's flat in my building itself. Then I, immediately, left to drop the remaining people to Kanjurmarg first and then to Vashi. We started at 1am.

I was able to do Parel to Kanjurmarg to Vashi to Parel (some 75kms) in one & a half hours! Got back home at 2.30am!

Basically all roads (barring some where we had scary experiences) had cleared and only problem was that there were no taxis.

So everyone got home safe.

It was adventurous and scary. There were times in Dadar, Worli Naka and again at Wadala when we got stuck in deep water and we could feel the water under the car but the Nano pulled through just fine. Engine overheating happened twice but in the end the car managed the whole effort just fine!

[Shreyans_Jain]

Nano always was a damn good car. No nonsense, very practical. Too bad the Indian public could not appreciate this little marvel of engineering.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

So everyone got home safe.

Good for your Nano.

But more than that, good on you man for helping out so many people! It's folks like you who make Mumbai great.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

It was a tough day. People in office who hadn't experienced this before were panicking.

Most of us planned to stay put in office and wait till things cleared out!

At 5pm, group of 3 from Navi Mumbai wanted to attempt going to Worli Naka for their shuttle. I volunteered to drop them but there was a lot of water clogging and my Nano couldn't take it so, after 200m, I had to turn back to office!

Well, done.

In situations like this, familiarity with stuff inside the car's bonnet helps.

If you observe carefully the position/level of the air intake plumbing to deduce from what level is the air getting into the system, you can roughly deduce your approximate water wading depth.

For example, for my polo, the air intake plumbing originates from near the grill area, near the LHS headlamp. So, it means that if the water reaches any where near the grill level, we should immediately switch off the engine or back out.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

It was adventurous and scary. There were times in Dadar, Worli Naka and again at Wadala when we got stuck in deep water and we could feel the water under the car but the Nano pulled through just fine. Engine overheating happened twice but in the end the car managed the whole effort just fine!

Great job. Its in times of distress that we must push our limits of risk-taking and act like a hero.. after all even most of the movies today take inspiration from real-life heroes. There is something simply terrifying about water falling from the skies though, I've been through multiple floodings in Bangalore of over 1-1.5 feet of water and glad that no technical failures happened to the car and my gamble paid off each time. One time I had no car with me and the heavy rains meant that public transport was but a dream so I walked about 5 km home braving the weather despite my absolute hatred for rains.

Thus I can truly relate to this story, the dread of the night, the rains and the cold.. its a harbinger of suffering each time. I can only hope that all of the citizens can unite in such times and help out where necessary. The Nano is exactly the car to use for floods, simple mechanics, good ground clearance, no engine up front etc.. yes the engine would've been in trouble if you hadn't done such a good job on calculating the route to avoid the floods. How's the situation there now?

Guess a treat is due from your work-mates eh?

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Nano always was a damn good car. No nonsense, very practical. Too bad the Indian public could not appreciate this little marvel of engineering.

Absolutely, I've seen even during minor floods (just about 1 foot of water) that Audi, BMW and Mercedes seize instantly and just sit there literally having become bricks. I'm not much of a fan of TATA cars but the Nano was a model that I've always respected because it was made for a definite purpose.. it is cheap to buy and run, simple technology (early models had no power steering even so no failures there) and gives everything that bike-riders never have - a roof, 4 doors and a little storage up front, brilliant.

If the Nano had been introduced in early 00's it'd have torn the roof in terms of sales.

[sudev]

Good job

The light may not have been due to overheating but simply some short circuit due to water

[honeybee]

Do get the car checked. The air intake and most other stuff, including the engine, gearbox and exhaust are at the back and it must have submerged in water to some extent. No point taking chances.

And kudos to you mate! There is a different kind of satisfaction when one is able to help others in distress.

[Arjun Reddy]

Mercedes doing it's bit.

http://www.autocarindia.com/car-news...stomers-405830

[freedom]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

It was a tough day. People in office who hadn't experienced this before were panicking.

Great work bro !! Salute!!

I will still play the devils advocate and question why you and your colleagues wanted to venture out at night in waist high water?
What would have happened if your car had stalled due to water ingestion, Then you would be 5 people with a broken car in waist high water.

The risk was too high and the reward was too less.

I have experienced 26th July 2005 first hand. Staying back in office was the best decision I made that evening. I had food/water/toilet and we had a generator to power the lights and AC when the power went out.


Coming to the Nano.
I think having the engine at the back may be an advantage in this case. Also the air intake may be a bit higher than other cars.

[Arjun Reddy]

Absolutely shocked. On one side Anand Mahindra tweets about slum dewllers distributing tea and biscuits to stranded people and the other side we have these in humans who don't care.


http://www.newsmobile.in/articles/20...shelter-rains/

[sjain2054]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Nano always was a damn good car. No nonsense, very practical. Too bad the Indian public could not appreciate this little marvel of engineering.

I agree! Words are not enough to express what a waste of a good product Nano is! If this car was conceived by Toyota or VW, it would have been a rage the world over! But I am really eagerly waiting for the electric version that Tata is now talking about.

Originally Posted by am1m

Good for your Nano.

But more than that, good on you man for helping out so many people! It's folks like you who make Mumbai great.

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Well, done.

In situations like this, familiarity with stuff inside the car's bonnet helps.

If you observe carefully the position/level of the air intake plumbing to deduce from what level is the air getting into the system, you can roughly deduce your approximate water wading depth.

For example, for my polo, the air intake plumbing originates from near the grill area, near the LHS headlamp. So, it means that if the water reaches any where near the grill level, we should immediately switch off the engine or back out.

Didnt know all this! thanks!!

Originally Posted by dark.knight

The Nano is exactly the car to use for floods, simple mechanics, good ground clearance, no engine up front etc.. yes the engine would've been in trouble if you hadn't done such a good job on calculating the route to avoid the floods. How's the situation there now?

Guess a treat is due from your work-mates eh?

I'm not much of a fan of TATA cars but the Nano was a model that I've always respected because it was made for a definite purpose.. it is cheap to buy and run, simple technology (early models had no power steering even so no failures there) and gives everything that bike-riders never have - a roof, 4 doors and a little storage up front, brilliant.

If the Nano had been introduced in early 00's it'd have torn the roof in terms of sales.

I have owned the Nano for 8 years. First 5 years the Lx yellow Nano and then exchanged that for the new Purple Twist XT. It has NEVER given me trouble. I have driven it all over the country to various places at different times! With 5 people in Mumbai rains it rescued all of us!

I say Tata should give it a quality makeover and a Japanese new silky smooth engine and make it like the Toyota iQ. Charge me 5-6 lakhs for it, people will buy it over the Grande i10!!

Originally Posted by honeybee

And kudos to you mate! There is a different kind of satisfaction when one is able to help others in distress.

Thanks! People were panicked! I needed to be there for them. I live 15 mins away from office in Parel Village. I could have gone home and chilled. But with panicked people around me, I just had to step up!

Originally Posted by freedom

Great work bro !! Salute!!

I will still play the devils advocate and question why you and your colleagues wanted to venture out at night in waist high water?
What would have happened if your car had stalled due to water ingestion, Then you would be 5 people with a broken car in waist high water.

The risk was too high and the reward was too less.

I have experienced 26th July 2005 first hand. Staying back in office was the best decision I made that evening. I had food/water/toilet and we had a generator to power the lights and AC when the power went out.


Coming to the Nano.
I think having the engine at the back may be an advantage in this case. Also the air intake may be a bit higher than other cars.

We didnt venture out when the water was waist deep. I got the courage to head out only after I took a walk and saw that the same place outside my office which has waist deep water at 5pm, was absolutely water free at 7.30pm.

All risks were calculated and routes checked before attempting any bravado.

Frankly, towards the end, water had cleared out in 95% of the places by 9pm and all one needed was transportation. Uber Ola had no taxis and black yellows anyway never want to go anywhere. Hence, all I actually did was provide transportation and then it was a matter of time before everyone got home safely.

Like I said, I did 75kms in 1.5 hours in the night ..parel - kanjurmarg via mazgaon - vashi - parel.
The other people who i got a taxi for at worli naka at 10pm..reached kandivili by 12.30am. Thats faster than normal peak time hours.

So the willingness to drive makes me a Hero i guess ..but then..i am a teambhpian.. I LIVE TO DRIVE!

[MaNishi]

The recent floods brought bad news for some of us.
I have recently moved to Mumbai and was at a meeting on 29th Aug at Equinox Business center at Kurla. Had parked my wife's Celerio AT in the basement. By the time I finished my meeting at 3:30 PM on 29th Aug, scene was so bad outside that no one could leave Equinox Business Center. The basement was flooded within hrs. Our car is still parked there , it was in water almost till the headlights. I spent a sleepless night at office. Next day morning, the Equinox facility guys installed water pumps to expell water out of the basement. Visited the basement again on 31st Aug, water was still there at some places. Attaching some pics. I could see water inside my car, even the pockets above the AT gear level had water in them. its such a heart breaking site
Have called up maruti insurance and informed them about flooding of my car. Was not so lucky with MASS, After two days of trying, I could get through the nearest service center at Chembur today. They have called me tomorrow to visit the Equinox and arrange for towing of car. Do not have any experience with MASS at Mumbai, looking for guidance from BHPIANS on the best way to deal with this problem.

[Col Mehta]

So everyone got home safe.

It was adventurous and scary. There were times in Dadar, Worli Naka and again at Wadala when we got stuck in deep water and we could feel the water under the car but the Nano pulled through just fine. Engine overheating happened twice but in the end the car managed the whole effort just fine!

Gave me goosebumps while reading your post. And what a splendid job (service?) you did that night. Take a bow ! Having served in Indian army for almost three decades and dedicating all these years trying to bring changes into people's lives, I can tell how much proud you must have felt. And full marks to Tata Nano. Companionships like these bond us more with our cars - when they refuse to give up on you and take the load off you!

Thanks for sharing your story with us here.

Regards
Col Mehta