Mine experience!

I truly believe in luck. I believe everything is governed by the laws of luck in this world :-)
I never expected to be where I am at this point of my life. I never expected some of the good things that happened and bad things too. But everything has to be taken with a pinch of salt. I never complain about my bad luck, but I surely enjoy my good luck. Somehow I was lucky to be in TAS and lucky enough to do an International stint with General Chemicals. Till date all my experiences have been fabulous and I expect them to continue for another month after which I leave them for pursuing next assignment in India.
I never expected to see an underground mine in my life. But I was lucky to reach General Chemicals and they were kind enough to arrange a visit for me here in the high arid desert of Wyoming. So once again I was lucky on the good side of it.
I was briefed about the safety requirements inside the mine on a short video before I started to get ready for the one time experience of my life. And believe me when they mean security it better be a good one. I haven't even heard of such structured security measures for everyone in any company till date. Gas masks, lights, auto alarms in case of Methane leakage, Exit direction indicators and 5 shafts to exit in case of emergency when only one is needed for entry.
So here I was after being briefed about the security and ready to don the gear to enter the mine. Safety glasses, Light, Breathing apparatus, Bell, metal top shoes etc.
I was accompanied by a miner called Steve. We made a gate entry at the mine entrance. I asked why then the answer was that if I didn't get back after a maximum of 8 hours they will identify who is missing and stop operations and start rescue. That would send shivers through anyone :-)
We then entered through a mine shaft and went below ground 1600ft or 538m after a 8 minute ride on the elevator. Below the mine it was pitch dark. W/o the light I couldn't see my hand in front of my face :-O . However at the entry there were adequate lighting. From there we had to drive in a Jeep underground to where mining was taking place. Mind you this jeep is assembled completely below the mine as ths shaft is capable of handling only 2000 pounds. So its taken in parts and assembled below. This jeep runs under Interstate Highway 80 which connects east coast to the west coast. We drove 6 miles in pitch dark and reached the mine. Mind you they spray water to control dust in the mine and our two wheel drive jeep skid many a times. But Steve was good at controlling things underground.
I saw a bore miner machine which was doing the mining at a rate of 2000 tons per hour. It is controlled by 6 computers up on the surface. It kind of moves like a snake and has lot of flexibility.The miners sure have a tough job. 8 hours in that darkness would surely make my days sad.
After that I saw the loading area where the ore is collected from 4-5 mining locations where simultaneous mining happens. After the mine is drilled, the surface is pierced with 20mm iron drills to support the ceiling from not falling due to pressure from ground above. This all was a exciting process and very fast too!
After about 2 hours below the ground we decided to come up. After exchanging pleasantries with the miners below, I came up 1600 feet to finish my first experience in a mine. It was truly Mine experience ;-)

Life changes fast...

Usually people don't respect their life as they don't imagine that death could be too close to them at any instance. The recent attacks in Mumbai must surely have made many of them respect their lives. In a short period of 4 hours the fastest city in India was turned into ruins and curfew due to a well coordinated attack in the heart of Mumbai. The final toll was 195 and more than 500 people were injured as terrorist rampaged the city of Mumbai.
For me it was nothing less that death of Mumbai. Death of security system, death of beliefs, death of freedom and death of what the city stands for. People say one may be a very strong person but death of someone you love might still break the person in you.
I realized this only after the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai.I have been in love with Mumbai for last 25 years, I truly have. This city has given me everything I have today. My identity, my beliefs, my respect, my education and now even my job. Watching the live streaming from my office was tearing my heart apart. I realized how hard the death of someone you love can be. I couldn't catch a wink of sleep that night. The sights of Taj burning, terrorists firing on common people couldn't just get out of my head.
Before this incident, I least cared about my life, took unnecessary risks and laughed them away. But this incident made me realize how important my life can be to people around me. Even though they may not benefit from me being there, but the realization that I am there for them will keep them going. Also I realized that there are many things I kept on postponing till I felt the time was right. But now I realize that the time is right when you want it to be. So I sat don to write down what all I wanted to do from bottom of my heart but couldn't due to fear,laziness, availability of yet another day and what not! I think I have procrastinated many decisions in the past few months which I will do as soon as possible...
I decided that I will change. I will try to do whatever I aspire to do in my life ahead of time as you never know...there just might not be a next day for you!!