The Chilean Miners...

First off, how exciting and thoroughly wondrous was the whole Chilean miners rescue mission... it is indeed an event that will go down in history as one of the most meticulous and miraculous rescue operations ever carried out. To finally see each of them emerging victoriously from the unimaginable ordeal they must have endured over the last two months was awe inspiring. All the hugging, laughing, crying and kissing the ground are some of profound images we'll remember forever. I especially loved the second man (Mario Sepulveda) who emerged from the mines, he was like a rockstar pumping up the crowd and chanting a slogan (apparently some football based slogan). I think he is the one who said that he held the hand of both God and the Devil and finally God won... God held on till the end. 

This precisely sums up their predicament right from day one when the world finally came to know bout these trapped 33 miners. They kept their wits bout them and rationed out the food they had for the first 17 days until the folks on the surface finally located them. The scrap of paper that one of the miners attached to the drill bit indicating that all 33 of them were fine in the shelter is now invaluable... it sure spoke volumes bout their grit and spirit. It was not a plea or a cry for help, they were stating a fact and this is what kept them alive, their collective ability to maintain cool and collected and not give into hysteria or despair. Once they were located, help and other body/soul nourishing supplements kept pouring in. They were fed a special diet to regain their strength, they wanted to watch football and somehow arrangements were made for that, one of the miners is an Elvis Presley fan and he requested for Elvis's music and Graceland got right on the job-they immediately sent a boxed set of CD's and a picture of Elvis, Steve Job sent all of them iPods... the whole world was rooting and praying for them. 

The whole rescue team did a great job, right from the drilling, to the doctors, the psychiatrist, the folks from NASA and everybody else who pitched in... great team work. Chile got everything right in this rescue mission, in their quiet fastidious nature they pulled off a daunting task with flair and immense acumen thereby garnering the respect and admiration of the world at large. The 33 miners are now receiving invitations and gifts from all corners of the earth. The richest football team in the world Manchester United has invited all 33 of them as special guests to watch one of their matches. The folks at Graceland have invited the Elvis fan for a tour of the King's former abode. One of the miners used to run in the tunnels underground to keep up his health and to clear his mind, the New York City Marathon has invited him to be their special guest. Some Greek island has invited all of them for a vacation... 

Isn't this truly a heart wrenching and a heartwarming tale of survival against all odds... survival of the brotherhood (there I already came up with a pretty neat name for a movie).

Here is Edison Pena the Elvis fan I was talking bout earlier in an interview with David Letterman.... how cool is he :o)