BENGALURU: Rakshith (22), a resident of Bengaluru, had gone to Chennai to be trained in the organisation that he had joined recently. However, not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would be stuck there for almost three days, with zero communication with his panic-stricken parents back home. “I joined L&T as a software engineer and had gone to Chennai a few months ago for training. In fact, the course was to have culminated next week. This is when disaster struck. When it was raining incessantly, we were stuck in the office for a whole day and night. The next day, we managed to somehow return to the company accommodation. “However, my parents, after witnessing media reports, were very scared. I could not contact them as there was hardly any signal, except at places located at a high altitude. Later, we heard that the first two floors of our office were submerged, which meant that we had a lucky escape. For food, we had to make do with whatever was there in the accommodation.
There was no power at all, and we were stuck there. The next day, we decided to leave and somehow convinced an auto driver to drop us off to the main bus stand. I want to add that these drivers made a killing that day. For a distance of around 14 km, we were charged `1,200. When we got to the bus stand, there were hardly any buses available, and most had left. We then waited for around eight hours. We then got a KSRTC bus. Even though there were eight of us, only two managed to get a seat including me. “My friends, who were not as lucky, had to leave their luggage behind and board a TNSRTC bus to Hosur, after which, they made their way back home. It was a harrowing experience, and one that I shall never forget.”