Monsoon in Mumbai means Marine Drive and tea in the rain for some people. However, for those who live in precarious housing, the rains bring sleepless nights and water into their houses. One LinkedIn post is now reminding the internet that the same rain can mean very different things to different people.
Shared by Shubham Gune, the emotional post reflects on his journey from struggling through flooded nights in a Mumbai chawl to eventually living in a home where the rain no longer enters through the windows and doors.
'For 7 years, I hated rains'
Gune begins his post by revealing that he hated the monsoon for seven years because of the conditions he lived in. According to him, rainwater would regularly enter his family's chawl house during heavy downpours, making it impossible to sleep. He recalls how water would first seep through the windows, then under the door and eventually spread across the entire floor.
Nights spent saving belongings from floodwater
Whenever it rained heavily, the family had to move everything they owned to safer places. Mattresses, clothes, books and shoes were lifted onto tables and cupboards before they spent the night filling buckets with floodwater, throwing it outside and repeating the process until the rain slowed or morning arrived.
For Gune, the romantic image of Mumbai's monsoon never matched his lived experience.
'The same rain falls differently on different roofs'
Years later, life changed. Today, Gune says the same rain falls on a home where it can no longer enter. Instead of spending sleepless nights battling floodwater, he now watches raindrops slide down his window with gratitude.
Speaking about his experience, he says, "The same rain comes down differently on various roofs. I have been living under both."
Internet touched by his sincerity
His touching post received much appreciation from LinkedIn members, who appreciated Gune for bringing out a new angle to the monsoon season, which most people tend to miss.
Some said that his story serves as a great example of how an ordinary experience can mean something entirely different for each individual, and some were impressed with his gratefulness and perseverance despite tough times.
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