As Mumbai struggles to deal with the mayhem caused by the heavy downpour on Tuesday, the kind-heartedness of its residents has been an example for everyone. Among them, the Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Dadar.
The Gurudwara offered not only 'langar' but also provided shelter to about 750 people in its multiple prayer halls. Among the several people who took shelter was the Boleslawski family from Paris, France.
The family of five that was travelling from Udaipur, Rajasthan to Aurangabad, Maharashtra found themselves stranded in Mumbai after their train to Aurangabad was cancelled. Unable to find a hotel to stay in, the family was told to go to the nearest Gurudwara.
French family which took shelter in Sikh Gurudwara, Dadar left behind a note which says 'our worst experience turned into best' #MumbaiRains pic.twitter.com/cHYvi653F7
— Harjinder S Kukreja (@SinghLions) August 30, 2017
They also left a heart-rending note for their hosts stating that their ‘worst experience’ had become their best.
“We were lost in the rain, and your Gurudwara appeared like a lighthouse in the dark. Not only you provided us with a shelter, but you welcomed us with extreme kindness. One of our worst experience in India turned to one of the best and we learned a lot from you,” said Boleswaskis in the thank you note.
The family was offered dal khichadi for dinner and a small room by the Gurudwara officials as they were concerned about their safety.
"The husband and wife came with their three daughters. They said the people at hotels and restaurants told them to come to us. Two local boys brought the family to us. We provided them bedding and food," Kulwant Singh, Vice-President of the Gurudwara committee told.
While the family refused any other special arrangement and chose to sleep on floor after seeing the condition of their fellow victims of the deluge, in the morning they said it was the best night of their life, Kulwant said.
As the family returned to their home town Paris, France, on Wednesday morning after the roads were cleared and transportation was resumed, but not without donating towards the cause of public welfare.
“Please accept this small contribution to everything you do for the souls in need. If you happen to come to Paris, please let us know,” said Arie and Sophie Boleswaski in the postcard.
Shared on Twitter by Harjinder Kukreja, reactions poured in to the heartwarming note:
With everything awful happening in India, this is one amazing news story which everyone needs to read!!
— Mrs Jagroop Dhaliwal (@Mrs_JagroopD) August 30, 2017
This is India.we know how to do miracles with love.
— Richa Singh (@richa_chunar) August 30, 2017
The desire to reach out to those in need was reflected in many acts across the city, where people were seen helping total strangers face the rain fury, displaying a sense of kinship and empathy that went far beyond the simple connotations of the storied "Mumbai spirit".
The hashtag "#rainhosts" started trending on micro- blogging site Twitter and there were scores of others using other platforms like Facebook with similar offers.
The effort was visible on the streets as well, probably with as much force, just to ensure that none of the over 1.5 crore people effort hungry.
Religious institutions too were relentless in their effort to reach out to the stranded, with gurudwaras, churches and the Ganpati mandals reaching out to those in need.
The GSB Mandal at Matunga was among the first to make deft use of the popular chatting app WhatsApp to offer help.
It was in fact on WhatsApp that a veritable flood of messages of offers to help started circulating.
