After the flood

Came all the news reports. And the inevitable stories of celebrities stranded without baths and cars and deprived of prized cabbages in back gardens. You had a picture of a dead baby killed in an unnecessary stampede being carried to the burial ground by its father, and next to it, Jaya Bachchan feeling thankful that she had a tall son whom the 'flood' in their house couldn't drown.

Next day, a newbie Bombay paper carried a full investigative report, with research worthy of a PM's state visit, on whether Ekta Kapoor's BMW 7 series had been damaged by water flooding her basement parking lot or not. They spoke to her, her brother, her colleagues, the garage mechanic, the garage owner, neighbours -- everybody. There were quotes that went something like 'a green BMW 7 that certainly looks like Ekta's did come in for repairs, so it must have been hers that got damaged' and Tushar Kapoor vehemently denying the allegation that their cars, THEIR CARS, could be vulnerable to something as trivial as 944 mm of rain.

I was reminded of the Delhi Times report that came in just after the Tsunami tut tutting about how Sandeep Chowta's back garden in Chennai was washed away.

Am scanning the papers for more such frustratingly hilarious items. Please report.