I am shooting a feature on coal mining in the state of Jharkhand and to my surprise I lost my phone. Sort of. For those that know me this is far from a surprise. It’s an expectation. In two years I have gone through five blackberries, an Iphone, and half a dozen misc. gateway phones. Every few months I a scurry about trying to recover phone numbers as I can never remember to back up my phone book. At least this time I’ve done that. It’s been nearly 24 hours that I have been untethered to the world outside of my current surroundings. It’s the longest I have been without a phone since I was a teenager. It’s weirdly relaxing to know that no one can reach me(other than by Skype, email, or AIM that is and only when I am at the hotel) for the next two days. I am spending my time wandering open coal fields and meeting nice people as I learn about life in Jharkand where nearly 400,000 people are supposed to be moved off of land that sits on top of burning coal fields. I’m not looking to see if I missed a call or a text. I’m taking my time to make pictures and not stressing about my visa or where my next assignment is coming from. I am focused on my surrounding and realizing how lucky I am not to have to live like this. My issues with visas, work, money, and my future are pretty trivial in comparison. I tend to take for granted that I am loved, nurtured, and get to do what I’ve wanted to do since I was 10 years old. I just wish I did not loose another phone to remind me of that. As we wander around the question is posed to Rajan our fixer about toilet and sanitation issues facing the village we are shooting. What he says me makes me chuckle since he delivers his answer so sweetly and matter-of-factly. It turns out one person’s bath room is another’s blog title.