I was racing around in my car at top speed and gear. I could hear the engine roar at every gear shift and at every turn the wheels screeching loosing traction on the tight corners and while nosing through the traffic and keeping ahead of the other racers... the horizon blurred every time i pushed hard on the accelerator..... i was in position 2 of Need For Speed Most Wanted blacklist, trying to pull down the final race with the blacklist topper... and there was a loud ring admist the roar of the engine and the brakes from the surround system..... i got scared at first, but then with the worst of curses and a foul mouth, i paused the game and reluctantly saw the no on the id.... that was it i knew where the call was from.... it was from my office...
I was asked to join an lpg tanker... i was so happy that time.. the personnel informed that i require to undergo some special medical and fitness tests and take some specialized training...It was in june end that i got this call and Mumbai was getting nature's waterwash.... the monsoons. it had rained really hard then. All that was running in my mind was that i was joining a lpg tanker. i asked for the name and went online to find the details of the ship i was to board.. i booked my tickets, dragged my lock stock and barrel and rushed to mumbai to do the courses that the company had arranged for me!!! It was then i came to know that i would be doing HLO (helicopter landing officer ) and HUET(helicopter underwater escape training) courses.. i was at first awed by the fact that i would be signing on and off the vessel on a chopper.in great excitement, i went to the venue of the medicals, gave the tests and went to the venue of the training for the chopper stuff.
The first course was a little boring. we were made to sit in a classroom and a pilot was hired to explain the working, fundementals and the essentials of the fanned dragonfly!!! The firefighting principles, emergency and contigency responses etc.we were more happy to attend the break time wherein we were served hot tea and snacks that were a treat to the cold humid air. It used to drizzle or rain quite a bit then but to the mariner the weather posted no hurdle.
Then began the HUET. The basic escape methords and the safeties aboard a chopper were shown to us. Then , we came to know that we were going to have a practical session, where we would have to perform an escape from a helicopter model that would be dropped into a swimming pool and turned upside down. the doors had the same type of escape mechanisms and eject pins. The first task is to escape by ejecting the doors as in a chopper. This seemed a plum cake. but on sitting on to the model did we understand that the seatbelts were to be put on and we would be dropped from a height of 20 feet!!! Oh My God!!! was the chorous expression at the sight of the arrangement. the staff were ready there to help in case some gets trapped or for emergencies.
To worsen the fears, the rain had increased to a heavy downpour from a shower by then. We were first given the option to do this session the following week. But we acted HEROES and One hero commented "NO STORMS STOP THY SAILOR LORD NEPTUNE" and with that we went to the swimming pool and changed into our cotton coveralls. With the cold rain banging our heads, we were drenched to the third layer of skin in a jiffy. Our dialogoe hero was the first person to be made to sit in the model as an award for his delivery of those GOLDEN WORDS. But he needed to have a partner as the model could accommodate two people. I was a good swimmer and was not scared of water and I volunteered. I climbed the lader and sat in the boot and strapped up and hoisted a thumb to give the green signal.there was a jerk and a slide and WHAM into ther water the whole thing fell and capsized. the floats inflated and kept the boot from sinking but it had capsized.
I gave a tug at the emergency exit and kicked off the door, with all my strength. The door had shut tight due to the impact and the hydrostatic pressure. I slowly surfaced and went to one end of the pool. After everyone finished this, it was our turn to repeat it but this time we had to use the window to exit. We had to eject the windows and escape through that. The same fall, the floats inflate and there we were in water like bats strapped up into a hollow of a tree heels atop! this was a fraction easire than the whole door thing. i managed to slip outta the belt and through the window. but my partner being a more hefty person had to squeeze out his hips with some difficulty.After this round, came the real test
To simulate the ocean waters, the floats were disabled and had to escape blind folded to simulate the dark ocean waters... our hero started fretting . And it happened all again....wham we hit the water!! The difference being that there was no whizz of the floats inflating now and i could feel the water pressure on my earlobes as the boot sunk to the bottom of the 12 foot deep pool and as i unstrapped and ejected the window, the muffled clang of metal reached my ears. I understood that i was 12 feet below my habitat now!!! I hauled myself out oh the window and went underwater as long as i could and surfaced slowly and gradually near the other end of the pool.This moment was a shock to me.. The cold rainstarted piercing my face with an even colder wind rocketing along the surface. Moreover there was commotion and people were running helter skelter.
I was happy that people were bothered about my absence for some time but then i noticed that they were looking at the direction of the boot. and with 4 people surfaced our hero. That was not all. The best part was that when he was hauled out of the water i did not know how to react.
There appeared a hefty guy with a door around his waist! OH MY GOD! He had tried to escape through the window, got stuck and ejected the whole door!! 4 people surfaced him and 7 of them hauled him up. With some struggle, they got the door out of his flabs! The rain gave a terrific seriousness to the situation. It was like an underwater excavation. A relic surfaced!
Two hours later we were sitting at the canteen laughing over this incident sipping hot tea and munchung the hot pakoda that were served.
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