"Everything was thoroughly soaked. Few things could be dried and sold. I have not managed a proper account of my losses yet, but they must be around a lakh," he says.

Nayak, who runs the store with his brother Sadanand and wife Sushila, had no insurance. "It's a small shop and we face a lot of competition from supermarkets or malls," he says, adding with a sigh, "No one thought something like this would happen."

Among his neighbouring shops, one sells clothes and the other, computers. Both managed to salvage their goods. Nayak has managed to get his store functioning by buying groceries on credit from Vashi. He doesn't look at the rains in quite the same way anymore though. "Our shop is near the highway, which has no divider. The drains are open. We could be flooded again."

Some government officials came around to gauge losses, but Nayak doesn't think too highly of the exercise. "I am looking out for myself. We stock groceries as high as possible and I am prepared," he says. The biggest sufferers, sadly, were his two children. "I had saved up for their college fees over the years, but had to utilise the money for repairs," he says. "I can no longer send them to the best college."

Text: Chinmayee Manjunath

Also see: 'We are back to zero'