Kaushik Khanikar

Prologue: 30th May 2025 When the Rain Wouldn’t Stop The monsoon arrived in Guwahati with its usual fanfare thunderclaps echoing like a grand overture, the Brahmaputra swelling with purpose. 30th May 2025, Guwahati drowned beneath a curtain of relentless rain. I had just left office, thinking it would be a slow drive home. Instead, I found myself battling a flash flood, barely navigating through submerged streets. My car sputtered in protest, coughing through water that nearly silenced the engine for good. The number plate was torn away by the current gone, like so many fragments of the city swallowed by the deluge. I gripped the steering wheel harder than I’ve held onto most things in life. By the time I reached home, drenched in sweat and streetlight reflection, I wasn’t thinking about the struggle anymore. A question crept into my mind, unbidden but persistent: What if the rain never stops? What would Guwahati look like after 30 days of unyielding deluge? As a consultant shaped by Bi...