Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Big B helps women stranded in Mumbai rain


Big B helps women stranded in Mumbai rain

Mumbai, July 15 (IANS) Imagine being stranded in heavy rain and then getting a lift from Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan. That's what happened to a few women here recently.

BigB did his bit by giving lifts to a few women in his car to help them escape the Mumbai rains that have jammed life in India's financial capital for the last three days.

The road outside Amitabh's house Prateeksha is waist deep in water, which has entered his reception area too. When the actor decided to take a ride in his SUV to his second home Jalsa in Juhu, he found the women wading through the waterlogged street.

"I muster up courage and help and pull out the SUV...that's the only one that shall go through in all this mess, and float out into the streets now jammed with people wading through and the cars blocking any movement.

"I open the door, well just about, to assist a few young ladies in distress who were beginning to lose their composure, and give them a ride towards Jalsa. Everywhere there is just chaos," Amitabh posted in a recent entry on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com .

At his Jalsa home, water leaked through into the bedrooms causing more distress to the actor.

"At Jalsa, the water in the bedrooms has leaked through despite the tarpaulin protection monsoon covers. I tell them (workers) to put towels, swabs, water resistant solutions, anything," he wrote.

The situation became so chaotic that the actor had to ask son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, who are in Singapore along with politician Amar Singh, to stay there for a while.

"I quickly inform them of the deluge warning them not to come in today as scheduled. I put all the mobiles on charge and the walkie talkies. Fill up water in buckets from the rain outside and store it just in case the power goes and the pumps get disconnected. And wait, and wait and wait?," he said.

For many others living here, the situation has been just as grave ever since rain started causing waterlogging in many areas, traffic snarls and even affecting rail service -- paralysing life in Mumbai.