Stranded & rescued: 'It was a monsoon nightmare'

Recently a Rediff staffer shared his experience of being stranded in the middle of nowhere and being helped out by a bunch of unknown people. We invited readers to share similar stories.

First up, Vijay Muraly recounts his monsoon nightmare

It was June 2006 and I was on the way to my friend's place in Electronic City with my family when I had to stop my car due to a heavy traffic. I thought of it as just another jam on Bommasandra, which is on the Hosur Road. I noticed that the road was blocked because the Bommasandara Lake had overflowed.

After 45 minutes, the local public managed to clear the road and I reached my friend's place after driving for two hours. My friend had just moved into his independent house and my wife reminded me to buy a gift for his new house. I requested my friend to take me to a gift shop nearby. He suggested going towards HSR Layout, which is 10 km from his house and is parallel to the Bommasandra Road (which had flooded couple of hours ago)

So I took my car out again. The rain had now stopped. My friend told me that the flood should not affect HSR Layout. We got on to a road just to find that a little ahead there is some amount of waterlogging.

One of the locals mentioned that if I drive at high speed I should be able to get past the patch. I decided to give it a shot but the car stopped midway and water started seeping into my vehicle. After some efforts we managed to clear the road but what lay ahead of us was an even worse road -- it was muddy and slippery. There was no turning back now but the car stopped once again. The mud and slippery surface was making it even more difficult and the car wasn't moving any further.

My friend got off the car and with some help from a few locals we got the car to start again. We reached the shop, bought him gift and reached my friend's place. I had no idea how much damage the whole event had caused to the car or the engine.

After a cup of tea we bid him goodbye. As we started back home, the car giving trouble again. It was stopping very frequently but somehow I managed to get on to the Hosur Road again and reached Bommasandra Road when it started to pour heavily. The vehicle stopped exactly at the centre of the highway. Due to the heavy traffic, I couldn't even move my vehicle to the side. Everyone who passed by us made sure to humiliate us. My daughter started getting impatient and my wife was no longer ready to accept the humiliation.

With nowhere to go and not a trace of a mechanic anywhere, I was sure that it would be a long evening ahead of me. I called the Hyundai on-road service. But they rejected my offer stating reasons of heavy rain, traffic congestion etc.

After 45 minutes, I saw a person rushing towards my vehicle from nowhere -- as if he knew what was going on. He asked me to open the bonnet, pulled the fuel pipe and cleaned it. Miraculously my vehicle was back at work. The man told me what to do when the engine starts to act funny the next time.

When I asked him how much I owed him assuming he would charge a bomb. He simply asked me to give what I thought was appropriate. I handed him Rs 100, which he gladly accepted and went away.

That was the day I was forced to believe in God again. I could not thank him enough. Yet whenever it floods in Bangalore the nightmare of that day keeps coming back to me!

Have you been stranded in the middle of nowhere and been helped out by absolutely unknown but wonderful people? Share your experiences with us. Write in to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Stranded and rescued') along with your photograph, or a pic of those who helped you. We'll publish the most interesting stories right here.

Milind Kapale tells us how he was stranded at a small train station with no money or belongings.

I had travelled to India on vacation and was travelling from Chennai to Nagpur to spend time with my family during Diwali.

The journey was pretty smooth so far and I'd even slept well. The next morning I woke up and went to use the toilet. As I stepped out of the loo, I realised that my wallet had fallen out from the pot! I panicked because all my important things were in it.

As the train was approaching a station it had reduced the speed. So I thought if I pull the chain and the train stops at the next station, I might get just enough time to pick the wallet from the tracks and board the train again.

With this thought in mind I pulled the chain with full force. All the fellow passengers were looking at me, totally puzzled.

The train stopped on the station, where it was not supposed to stop. This station is on the boarder of Andhra just before Ballarshah.

Immediately when the train stop stopped, I jumped off the train and started running desperately to find the wallet.

I was under the impression that when someone pulls emergency chain train stops at the next station and railway authorities check what exactly happened and help resolve the situation. Instead, the train just set off from station for the onward journey. 

When I turned and saw the train already gone from the station I got the shock of my life. I had my entire luggage including a brand new laptop in the train. I couldn't imagine having lost not just my wallet with all my cash and international credit cards but also my luggage.

I thought I'd first search for the wallet so I started walking along the tracks. After some time I realised it was of no avail. I came back to the station and explained the situation to the stationmaster. Thankfully I had the train ticket safely tucked away in another pocket.

The stationmaster asked me to remain calm. He suggested he could get the luggage off at the next station and I could pick it up and carry on to Nagpur. He also said I could travel to Nagpur in a general bogie.

I requested him to offload it at Nagpur itself where my family could collect it.

After a couple of hours a train passed by the station I was at and stopped just for me. For the first time in my life, I boarded a crowded general compartment and continued my journey.

It would be six hours before I reached Nagpur surviving on some bananas I'd bought with the little money I had left.

Having travelled across the world stranded at the tiny railway station in India, a stationmaster rescued me.

Saba Nabi shares with us her experience of being stranded in Riyadh

Recently my husband, my six-month-old baby and I went to pick up my younger sister from Riyadh International Airport. It was 9pm and the flight was on time.

We parked the car and waited for my sister's plane to arrive. When we reached the parking lot, we realised that car was locked and the keys were inside it.

It was now 11 pm and we were beginning to panic. Some Indians saw us and came by to offer help. Nothing was working. That was when we spotted two young locals walking towards us. They too tried their best. Finally after some time they took a thin straw placed it in between the windowpane slit and bent to an angle where the lock of the door was loosened. We heard a click and the door was opened.

The whole exercise lasted about two hours. We thanked everyone and headed home. Meanwhile we were offered juices, snacks and even a chocolate for my baby!

I was really touched with the hospitality of those two young boys. They were unable to speak English and we understood little of their Arabic language but through the gestures we could make out that they were well cultured and generous in their attitude. We were really touched.