My terrible experience of AP bandh on 30th Dec'09

It was 29th Dec,2009,3 pm , I was sitting at my home in Mumbai when I received a call from “KesiNaini” travels which was supposed to take me back to Hyderabad that day.
“Can you reach the bus stop 1 hour earlier mam?”- The bus conductor requested.
“Yes,surely”- I said ,”But whats the matter?”
“There is a bandh declared tomorrow in AP and if we start early, we can reach Hyderabad safely by 6 AM” – came the reply from the conductor.
I rushed to the Vashi spot at 6:15 pm , 15 mins post which the bus started moving.
In the middle of the night,I realised that the bus had halted at Pune for 2 hours due to an accident that had occurred there.I dozed off.
I woke up shockingly at 7 in the morning hearing some people say that the bus won’t move forward. It was a lonely place somewhere near a solitary petrol pump some 70 kms away from Hyderabad. We kept wondering what to do next.
We asked the driver whether the bus would start anytime soon but he was completely clueless. We came out of the bus to identify with the situation outside. All we could see were several tourist buses at a standstill and people walking on the road.
In the meanwhile,1 family came out of the bus and managed to get into an auto that was passing by. They just wanted to move out of that area unaware of the consequences that were awaiting them on the route.
We also heard that both the routes to Hyderabad and Maharashtra were blocked by TRS activists with heavy stones and there was no way out..A few tourist buses also tried to move out but came back in a few minutes.
After a while, we saw a mob coming towards the petrol pump, delighted at the distress of the tired and helpless passengers!!
We got petrified and quickly jumped backed into the bus. The mob came laughing and screaming “Telengana” and snatched 1 bottle of petrol from the petrol pump. We started panicking that they may set the bus on fire. We could neither come out nor stay inside!!!After a while, the rabble left the place and started burning tyres.A thick cloud of smoke covered the sky.
My co-passenger got restless and suggested that we move out as soon as possible!!
I thought of calling the police to inform them of the situation and help us get out of this terrible state!!.I quickly called “100”.
“Invalid Number” – a loud recording from the operator killed my hopes!!Looks like it’s the latest strategy of the cops to stay away from their responsibilities!!
No mode of transport and stuck in the middle of nowhere!!!
At around 9:30 AM,my co-passenger and I took our luggage and stepped out on the road. Another passenger came and asked us to form a group and walk so that all of us were together and safe.
While we were walking,1 police van passed by. We ran and pleaded to them to do something. They simply smiled and informed that nothing is possible before noon. Alas!!!
We saw 1 fire brigade cross by. They had come to extinguish the fire lit by the mob.While on its way back,we begged to them to reach us until Hyderabad.
“We are going to a nearby hospital about 3 kms from here and we could drop you till there only” – The driver said..Well, something better than nothing!!
We hopped into the fire brigade,about 10 of us,some at the back and the remaining struggling to squeeze into the front of the van.
The brigade dropped us after 3 kms of drive.Now comes the Daandi March and we were all ready for it!!!
About 67 kms to reach Hyderabad, no transport yet and no place to rest at!!We managed to walk for about 5 kms , encountering several mobs and burning tyres.
A few months back,I had attended a management offsite at Kerala where we had to perform an activity called “firewalk” ,being one of the workshop activities. We had to walk on burnt coals, well planned with calculated risks by the facilitator and no fear of any burns. And here we were,walking in the midst of flaming tyres, danger at every step!!
Finally, we found a six seater which was ready to drop us till the “chauraasta” and we hoped to get a transport from there to reach BHEL, around 30 kms away from the place I live in.
Around 7 passengers jumped into the auto leaving 3 of us behind. We had no option but to walk again!!
After a strenuous walk of another 2 kms,an auto approached us and agreed to reach us till the chauraasta.We got into the rickshaw after much struggle to fit ourselves and our huge luggage.
I requested the driver to help us reach BHEL.The driver agreed provided things were fine on the road.
Things started looking better until we came across another mob.The driver diverted his vehicle to another route to come out of the chaos.
After a few more kms,we spotted another mob , this time they were carrying wooden sticks.1 of my co-passengers,a lady suggested that she would act to be a patient so that the mob would let us go.
The mob came hurryingly towards us and one of them even started breaking the front glass of the auto.We pleaded to them to let us go pointing towards the “supposed-to-be” patient.
One of them uttered something in telugu and asked the rest of the gang to leave us and indicated to us to get away quickly.
We travelled for another several kms,crossing a few more mobs and fleeing from them by the magnificent “patient” act of my co-passenger.
While we were about to reach BHEL,we spotted another mob at a 100 metre distance.A few pedestrians warned us to go back.The driver still gathered courage and moved ahead ignoring the warnings!!
The angry mob came running towards us with rods in their hands.This time,the lady had to put up a stronger act as the mob would only free us once they were convinced that she was really sick!!
We kept begging and pleading but this time they wouldn’t listen to us.They started abusing and hitting the driver!!
We were almost in tears, completely helpless and appalled. Finally,the mob let us go , convinced that the lady was really serious!!!
A few more kms and we were about to reach BHEL!!
The driver also assured us that he would reach each one of us to our final destinations.
I realised that GOD does exist in the form of some noble human beings who dare to go an extra mile at the cost of even their own lives!!
At around 2 PM,I reached my house,the rest of the journey going hassle-free!!