Entrepreneur Recalls Growing Up In Flood-Prone Chawl, Says "For 7 Years, I Hated Rains"

For many people, the monsoon brings joy and pleasant memories. But for one entrepreneur, it once meant sleepless nights, flooded rooms and hours spent trying to save his family's belongings from rising rainwater. Shubham Gune, founder of a Mumbai-based marketing company, recently shared an emotional recollection of growing up in a flood-prone chawl in Mumbai. He said he spent seven years as a child fearing the arrival of the monsoon because rainwater regularly entered his family's home.

He said that for seven years he hated the rains, explaining that heavy rainfall often turned nights into a struggle against rising water levels inside the house.

Recalling his childhood in a Mumbai chawl, Gune said the flooding usually began around midnight. He shared on LinkedIn that the water would first enter through the window, then under the door, before slowly spreading across the entire floor.
Whenever flooding started, his family would quickly move their belongings to safer places. He said they would lift the mattresses, clothes, books and shoes onto a small table or the top shelf of an almirah before starting to remove the water with buckets. They would keep filling and throwing buckets of water until the rain slowed down or the sun came up.

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Gune also compared the popular image of Mumbai's monsoon with the reality faced by people living in vulnerable homes. He said Mumbai often makes the rain look beautiful through cutting chai, Marine Drive, wet windows and old film songs. However, he added that for many years, that beautiful rain was not meant for people like him.

He said his life has changed over the last decade. Today, he lives in a home where rain no longer enters through the windows or doors, and monsoon nights are no longer disturbed by flooding.

Reflecting on his journey, Gune wrote that after ten years in the city, the same rain now falls on a home it cannot enter. He added that the same rain falls differently on different roofs and that he has lived under both.

He also said that while he still folds his hands in gratitude whenever it rains, his prayer has changed. Thanking God and all his well-wishers for turning his life around, Gune said he is eternally grateful.