Saving Lives: A Retrospective

In the summer of 1991, I took a summer job as Head Lifeguard and Swim Instructor at a summer camp in Hendersonville, NC (near Asheville). My duties there were varied, ranging from leading the team of lifeguards, to personally giving swimming lessons to campgoers of all ages, to supporting the other camp counselors and accompanying them on overnight hikes and so forth.

One of my achievements at the camp that is, for me, the most memorable, was the opportunity that I had to rescue a life. It was an African-American kid, a skinny little youth, probably 10-15 years old, who, when it was time for him to give his swimming evaluation, began sputtering and coughing, then went under. Without a moment's hesitation, I dove off the pier and into the water, which was probably about 12-15 feet deep at that spot, clothes and all, and pulled him to safety.

The point I want to make here is that when it came to rescuing his life, the last thing on my mind, as Head Lifeguard, was his race or the color of his skin. I had undergone lifeguard and WSI training and was, at the time, Red-Cross certified as a lifeguard and WSI. I responded to my training and did what I had to in order to rescue a drowning victim. I even made special arrangements, subsequently, for one of the lifeguards to give the kid exclusive swimming lessons for the duration of his stay at the summer camp.

My experience as Head Lifeguard taught me a great deal—I was responsible for the lives and well-being of campgoers of all ages at an exclusive Southern summer camp and you can be sure that I took this responsibility very, very seriously. I am proud to say that in spite of one incident involving a water snake in the lake, and several groups of unruly teenagers causing trouble as usual, we never had anything close to a casualty or injury in the duration of my stint as Head Lifeguard.

I was in charge of a team of 5-6 lifeguards and we were responsible for a large lakefront that had been partitioned for swimmers of varying skill levels, plus a section that was restricted for canoeing and boating. And as long as I was in charge of the waterfront, safety was paramount in my mind. I did not have the luxury to even think in discriminatory or biased terms—for me, every life was important because on the waterfront, as Head Lifeguard, I was responsible and accountable for the well-being of every campgoer in my charge.

It was a massive responsibility to bear, and a life-changing experience for me, to be sure. It taught me some invaluable lessons in leadership and enabled me to grow as a human being. It taught me crucial values of selflessness, courage and the lesson that when lives are on the line, one doesn't have the luxury of a margin of error—there is no room for failure under such circumstances.

These are some experiences that I felt I had the need to share with others—for no other reason, perhaps, than to validate and justify my own existence in some way!

Horizon Cybermedia, meanwhile, is dedicated to the same sense of life-preserving values and high standards that have been inculcated in me since my youth. I hope to continue to produce media content of the highest quality and highest ethical standards. Please do check out our website at http://www.explorationtheseries.com and stay tuned for more exciting content to come in the future, including the next film in the series, Exploration with Uday Gunjikar.

Wishing you the very best,

Uday Gunjikar,
Founder and CEO,
Horizon Cybermedia, Inc.