When a 30-min drive back home became a 6-hr torture

Architect Mona Arora works at MG Road. She recounts Thursday's ordeal.
I started from my MG Road office around 5.30pm. I usually reach my Sohna Road home in 35-40 minutes.On Thursday, I got home around 11pm.
I first got stuck around 6pm near St Xavier's High School crossing at Golf Course Extension. A jam at this intersection is usual -the traffic lights don't work.On Thursday , waterlogging only worsened matters, motorists were driving on the wrong side.A gridlock had formed. I was stuck there till about 8.30pm.
For over two hours, cars stood bumperto-bumper and an impromptu bonding developed among the occupants of the immobilised cars. The one next to mine had kids. I was carrying some snacks, which I shared with them.Some people were on the road trying to get things moving.
In pics: Heavy rains and waterlogging bring life to a standstill
A WhatsApp group of residents from my housing society were sharing updates on road conditions, where they were stuck, which parts to avoid. Most said it would be sensible to park wherever one found space and walk back. By 10pm, after wading through stop-and-go traf fic, I managed to reach Park Hospital near Sohna Road. Near a shopping complex next to it, I spied a gap where I could slip my car in and park. I pleaded with a security guard to allow me to leave my car there for the night. I was now about 2km from home.
Once I began walking, I was the fastest person on the road.There was up to a foot-deep water in places. There were no streetlights and it was dark.The idling cars had turned off their lights. I weaved through the stranded vehicles that mostly had people returning home from work. I reached my housing complex around 11pm, and found our compound too was under water. I woke up at five the next morning to walk back and fetch my car.
My office declared Friday a holiday . We did not know how bad the situation was going to be.
(As told to TOI)