That's Mumbai for you and me, dearies. Aur woh bhi subah 8 o'clock ko. For the ladies who think they are safe in the capital of Mahatrashtra, think again. Here comes a first hand-account of a TV actress who drove off in the nick of time when the two rogues (Should have used an abusive word instead of 'rogues') who attacked her decided to do something more sinister.
Here's Rupali Ganguly (Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai) rewinding on all that transpired when she waited at the Bharat Nagar Signal, near Banana Leaf, Versova, yesterday morning.
How did it all begin?
I was going to drop my son to school He was sitting in the backseat with my maid. I had to stop at the Bharat Nagar signal, near Vikram Petrol Pump as the light had turned red. It was 8.20 am. My son tried to take my mobile by lunging forward and just while taking care of him, my foot from the brake went back a little and the car moved forward, but mind you not more than an inch. Consequently, my car happened to touch a bike. Trust me, touch bhi nahin kahungi, brush tha.
Two men were sitting on it. Neither the bike overturned, nor there was even a scratch on the bike. But suddenly one of them got down and came towards my car. He started abusing me, ma aur bahen ki gaaliyan. He also kicked the bonnet.
It was nauseating. My child was hearing them. I told him 'Kuch nahin hua hai, why are you overreacting?'I even apologized, but he was in no mood to listen.
Then?
Then I backed off a bit. But going backward did not help. I saw that now the second guy on the bike got down and started running towards my car.
Before I could react, he hit the left front window of my car. And he hit it so hard that it broke, throwing off glass pieces towards me. Some glass pieces hit me in my hands and I started bleeding.
I told him 'Itna gussa kis baat ka hai?' In turn, he started going off towards the backside of my car. It was clear he wanted to smash the rear windscreen. Frankly, I dont know what he wanted to do by going behind the car but his enriched expression clearly spelt something terrible. Imagine my son and maid were sitting in the backseat.
But before he could aim, I succeeded in starting the car and sped away.
Rupali's Smashed Left Window Of Her Car
Was there nobody around?
Bahut saare log. They were only watching the tamasha. Nobody objected when I was abused. Nobody reacted when my car window was smashed.
Would you believe nobody reacted even when I got down from the car near the school. Bas kuch log were very curious to know 'Kya hua?'. Nobody even offered to take me to a doctor for medical assistance.
That's the spirit of our Mumbai.
And then you headed to your son's school?
He was petrified to the core. He had been crying from the moment the incident happened. He refused to get down at school.
I was told to take him back home. But i decided to teach those rogues a lesson. I headed to the nearest police station.
Did the police act soon?
Hats off to Mumbai Police. Amazing network. They made me encircle the two by showing me the CCTV footage. A few hours later, both were apprehended. Mind well, I hadn't noted their bike numbers. And then, they called me to identify them.
What happened during the identification bit?
They begged for forgiveness. They had come with their respective mothers. And guess what! One of them said he has a 2-year old son. Were they human? I don't think so. Do you know what their mothers told me?
What?
They said 'Aap bhi maa hain. Leave our kid'.
Did you reply?
Yes, I told them if my son had misbehaved and attacked in this manner, I myself would have brought him to the police station.
Did you take back the FIR?
Not at all. I walked out of the police station after identifying them.
Bravo Ms Ganguly. Hats off to you too!