Initially, when I meet him, he is reluctant to talk about July 26. After some time though, he opens up, telling me what he and his stable workers (the stable has one caretaker for every 10 buffaloes) did when it began to pour. Some fled, others were busy with routine work. But, everyone remaining knew they had a huge task at hand.

The stable is in a low-lying area, almost a storey-level below the street. As the water-level rose, Mustaphabhai and the workers began untying the buffaloes. Soon, a part of the compound wall collapsed and water started gushing in. Its force broke open a section of the wall on the opposite side and nearly 20 buffaloes drifted away. Only 15 were traced later. As the rains continued, one of the sheds in the stable collapsed. Thirteen buffaloes housed there were shifted to the neighbouring state of Gujarat.

Mustaphabhai's buffaloes were not insured, so compensation was out of the question. When asked about the notices sent by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation to stables with regard to the death of animals, he says, "We gave the BMC a list of our damages. They came to spray pesticides to prevent the outbreak of disease."

Mustaphabhai is not perturbed by the adversity. He says he and his workers did everything possible to save the animals. He is keen on repairing the damage, but knows there is no point in renovation until the monsoons are over. It is only then that the fallen walls can be rebuilt and the animals brought back.

From the Rediff archives: A photograph of a buffalo shed in Goregaon, northwest Mumbai

Text: Dominic Alapat

Also see: First the rain, then the rumour