Mumbai families who were stranded in flood-ravaged Kashmir return home

The images of floodravaged streets in Kashmir homeless people and destruction everywhere are likely to haunt the Apte and Divekar families from Mahim for a long time Though these memories will ebb the two families will remember the generosity of the locals who offered them support at every juncture for the rest of their livesAlso read Mumbai man anxiously awaits wife sons return from floodhit SrinagarThe Aptes and Divekars finally made it to Mumbai after a harrowing experience in SrinagarThe Divekars Gaurish 40 Neha 39 and their son Om 15 had left for Vaishnodevi on August 29 While Gaurish returned to Mumbai after two days the mother and son stayed back while the Aptes Mihir 39 Shweta 36 and their son Ishan 12 joined them on August 31 Both the families were supposed to stay back in the valley till September 7 and then return to Mumbai On that very same day there was kneelength water in the hotelThe Apte familyldquoThe driver told us he cannot come to drop us at the airport as he himself was taking refuge on the roof of his twostorey house which was already submerged in water On the suggestion of our hotel owner we decided to go to another hotel at a higher altituderdquo said Neha The moment she left the first hotel she called her husband in Mumbai and informed that she was moving to a safer hotel after which her mobile network gave wayThe Apte family top and the Divekar family above were to return on September 7 originally PicsSatyajit DesaiIt took them nearly an hour to reach the hotel which was just 1015 minutes away At the new hotel the families realised that Mushtaq the hotel owner had lost his home in the floods but was still offering them food and accommodationldquoMushtaq told us that his house where he had kept the jewellery meant for his sisterinlawrsquos marriage was washed away Despite his huge loss he focussed all his energies in planning how to feed all the guests at the hotel He chalked out a plan wherein he would feed everyone only dal and rice for a week as he had adequate stockrdquo said MihirThe Aptes and Divekars headed to Raj Bhawan after learning that tourists were being rescued from there They had to trek as the roads werenrsquot visible due to the floods and were unable to carry their luggage They handed their bags to an old taxi driver and told him to deliver it at the hotel After reaching Raj Bhawan they learnt that around 10000 people were waiting to be rescued for more than two daysThe Aptes and Divekars decided to return to the hotel On their way back they saw a man who offered them a ride instantly ldquoHe dropped us to the hotel for free At the hotel our luggage was safe We didnrsquot expect this generosityrdquo said Shweta They even met a couple who took them to their home offered them tea and noted down their relativesrsquo numbers in Mumbai so that they could call them whenever they would get networkOn September 11 the families decided to leave for Leh as they learnt they would be able to return to Delhi and eventually home from there After a 15hour journey they finally reached Leh where they were taken to a transit accommodation in a local school On Saturday with the help of Dr Zahida the local administrator the two families left for the capital and then flew back to Mumbai in the evening Mihir said ldquoThe whole experience has changed all of us We now look at life differently