Rhythms, Rains, and Raw Emotions | Diary Entry - 23rd May
This morning, as I walked from the gate to the workshop, I noticed something small yet significant-people were wearing helmets. It triggered a memory flashback to Hills Cement and Amrit Cement, where even such a basic safety habit wasn’t in place until I pushed for it. No morning prayer. No structured meetings. No preventive maintenance. Things were in chaos until a new rhythm was introduced. Slowly but steadily, practices were built there. Here at WACEM, something has begun too-but it’s crawling, frustratingly slow.
I paused for a moment today and took a photo of the plant reflected in a puddle. The slight ripple in the water felt symbolic-the plant has potential, but it's disturbed, unsettled. I even made a small video of it. Perhaps I’ll share it someday when I write about "reflections of a plant and its people."
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🛠 Morning Meeting - Building the Rhythm
Today's morning prayer was sung beautifully by a team member. It set the tone right.
Mr. Yendabre, our Safety Officer, emphasized the importance of helmets, narrating a near-miss where a life was saved just because the person was wearing one.
That opened up a moment from my own life - a memory I rarely revisit but one I’ll never forget.
It was in 2009. I was inspecting the ball mill pinion. To my left was a mechanical engineer, to my right a civil engineer. Suddenly, a 3-foot-long, 75mm MS angle iron fell from 12 meters above. It hit my head. I was wearing a helmet. It crushed, yes - but all I suffered was a scalp cut and 14 stitches. The other two were not wearing helmets. They were spared. Luck? Maybe. But that day, I truly understood what PPE means.
HOD meeting: I shared something close to my heart-a summary of how cement plants work on rhythm, like a symphony. A small disruption in one instrument, and the harmony breaks.
I said:
I walked the team through real examples:
If the crusher stops for 10 minutes, it disrupts the uniformity of the pile.
The stacker running empty or staying at one end causes variations in pile quality.
When the Raw Mill stops unplanned, the kiln feed changes immediately, impacting burning zone stability.
Even a coal mill stoppage has downstream effects-raw material may get ground but cannot be burnt well.
Unplanned stoppage is poison. Rhythm is the antidote.
Did they understand? I hope so. I tried not to lecture, just converse. We’ll improve... I want to believe that. But right now, we aren’t bad-we're the worst. That’s the bitter truth.
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🧯Raw Emotions & Rainwater Splashes
As if to test my endurance, another breakdown occurred. The pre-crusher of Line#1 Raw Mill failed. The HOD Mechanical suggested running the raw mill bypassing the pre-crusher. I lost my temper. Completely. The very idea of compromising the process, again, without even resolving the root cause-it pushed me beyond calm.
I was already exhausted with cascading issues, and this suggestion just blew the fuse. Anger. Frustration. Disappointment.
I thought a distraction would help. Heavy rain started before lunch. A perfect scene for a cinematic, slow-motion water-splash video. I set it up-gave clear instructions to my driver.
But life had other plans:
1. First trial-he dodged the water like he was avoiding potholes.
2. Second-he crawled through like a turtle on vacation.
3. Third-he was even slower.
Anger turned to comedy. Then to despair. Then back to anger. Not because of the video failure, but because it mirrored everything-why does nobody get it right the first time? Why is energy missing?
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🌧 From Frustration to Freedom
Back home, I didn’t want to stay still. I changed quickly and went out into the rain like a child escaping school. I walked. I ran. I jumped. I made videos. I laughed with students heading home.
The rain healed some of the bruised emotions from the day.
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🎓 A Visit from the Director’s Family
Post-lunch, the wife and daughter of our Director General visited the plant. We gave them a warm tour-laboratory, CCR, kiln area. Later, we did a short presentation. It was a small, refreshing break from the grinding rhythm of operations.
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📍Key Points of the Day:
🚧 Noticed improved helmet usage-a small win.
📿 Morning meeting held with a prayer sung by a team member.
🎙 Talked about process rhythm, unplanned stoppages, and their ripple effects.
🔥 Pre-crusher of Line#1 Raw Mill broke down-suggestion to bypass it triggered anger.
🌧 Tried making a water-splash video in the rain-failed hilariously.
🏃♂️ Rain therapy-ran and played in rain with schoolchildren.
👩🏫 Gave a plant tour and presentation to the DG’s family.
❌ DPM was cancelled as team remained occupied.
⚠️ Line#1 running, Line#2 still down.
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Final Reflection:
Rhythm is everything. From process flow to emotional health. When rhythm breaks, chaos creeps in. Today, I lived both sides-mechanical disorder and emotional turbulence. But rain, children, and even failures reminded me that rhythm can be rebuilt-drop by drop, step by step.
Tomorrow is another note in the symphony. Let’s try to play it better.
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