"WATER WATER EVERYWHERE, NOT A DROP TO DRINK". Have heard this saying many a times right from my childhood. But...but...but on last Saturday i.e. 9-Dec, I actually was in a similar situation. Except for the phrase "NOT A DROP TO DRINK" everything else happened in my flat. So I guess you got it.
I have actually shifted to my new purchased flat a few months back (July'06). As usual, lot of pending mason & carpentry work was going on since then, which ended just a month back. But one activity which still remained pending was proper installation of my UV water purifier. What my Builder had done is just my terminating the direct water connection to the water purifier using a big nut. My duty was to get the complete connection done. Unfortunately I don't have an option of stopping my Kitchen water connection from the window outside. In case of the Kitchen there is a central valve in the terrace to stop water for all Kitchens. To avoid inconvenience to other residence I thought of fixing the tap for my water purifier without closing the valve......you can understand how foolish I was.
It was 12:30 pm with my Ma completing her usual puja. I told her about the activity I was about to perform. Though she was a bit sceptical about me doing the plumber work, she still was ready to assist me in doing the job. So I handed over a big towel to her & told her to cover the pipe where I was about to open the nut & fix the tap. So I got ready with my toolkit ready to do a DANGEROUS job. Everything started smoothly with the nut unwinding quite smoothly. Then.....it was the last thread of the nut unwinding & theeeennnn......BOOOOOOOMMMM. The force of water was beyond our imagination. And since we stay in the 2nd floor the force was even greater. I tried to connect the tap.....failure.....tried the nut again.....failure. All my efforts were going in vain. And when I looked back I saw my entire Kitchen weat & water upto 4 inches in the floor. Excess water started draining out from my entrance door into the staircase.
I then told Ma to cover the opening with the towel & ran helter-skeltor to get someone's help.....no one there. Ran upto the 8th floor terrace & turned off the Bathroom valve & returned home thinking everything had calmed down. Then realished that I had turned off the wrong one. Then my Ma (fully drenched in water) handed over the towel to me & screamed for help. Finally she got some relief when she found the local helper boy. He immediately ran upto the terrace & turned off the Kitchen valve.
Ahhhhhhhhh......a sigh of relief on both our faces. Some other workers working nearby came down to our flat & were stunned to see our TITANIC flat.
As you all know that it was my mistake, so I spent the next 1 hour flushing out 8-10 buckets of water. 1 hour.....surprised......I have become an expert flushing out water, since I have done a similar activity in my previous residence @ Lower Parel during the famous 26/7 period. Then by around 3 pm or so everything seemed fine & I switched on all fans to ensure quicker drying. By around 7 pm or so, my flat returned to its previous shape. Forgot to tell you one BIG thing....my sisters inlaws had already been invited for a Lunch the very next day.
H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O H2O
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