An interview Published in Kuwait Times News Paper year
2003
Between :
By
Dalal Al-Fahad ( Kuwait Times = KT )
Mansour Khoursheed = MK
Kuwait Times
often meet with people, with talents of special
importance. In Kuwait there are many people who are very
efficient and adventurous, what they need is the
popularity among public to earn their support. Mansor
Khorsheed, is one of such man in Kuwait. He is a famous
psychology teacher and an assistant diving trainer. He
begun his diving profession since 1997 and has dived in
more than five countries. He is also an under water
photographer, member of the scientific club, a
professional sky-diver and a sky-photographer. He is one
of the first sky-divers in Kuwait and also one of the
founders of Kuwait Scientific Club Team of Parachutes.
Keeping this in mind, Kuwait Times met with him and
discussed in detail about the secrets behind his
performances, and also about his future plans. Excerpts
from the interview:
KT: Well, please can you brief us about your Hobby's &
sort that you practice ?
MK:
Let me tell you frankly that Mansoor Khorshid Love
adventure in his life .
First I took
training in scuba-diving and I gradually became an
assistant scuba diver with 9 different scuba-diving
specialist & more than 100 dive in different countries,
I am Also A power-Glider Pilot , a volunteer In Kuwait
Red Crescent Society ( KRCS )visited a lot of nation
wide countries as a volunteered Medic First Aid rescuer
, photographer , translator & the As An Disaster
Management Team Leader for ( KRCS ). I almost forget
that I like outdoor activity like Camping & hours riding
& any other activity or adventure I can practices .
KT: Well, please tell us when did you start sky-diving
Or as you Said AFF Jump( Accelerate Free Fall Jump ) ?
MK: I
saw once a movie about sky- diving( drop-Zone ) 8 months
before the first free fall jump , and it was the
beginning of my hope to practice this sport ( I loved
the Idea ! ), and the movies encouraged me to take up
this challenge. I continued watching these kinds of
movies and learnt all about this sport. I started
sending e-mails to different countries, until I got a
reply from the real professionals in this sport. I
received the sky-divers information manual from United
States Parachute Association and it took eight months
learn more about sky-diving. I left for Italy to
participate in my first dive there, and I successfully
dived. It was really interesting and marvelous and after
this experience, I went to different countries like UAE,
Jordan , Italy and other countries to sky-dive & I still
go to UAE to sky-dive during the holidays.
KT: You have said that, there was no match between what
you have studied and what you are currently
practicing, so how do you get benefits of your hard
studies?
MK:
As I told you before, I wanted to go for engineering but
I couldn't and I studied psychology. From this study I
knew how to deal with nervousness and also about the
hormones that control fear and feelings. Let me tell
you that all these study helped me in dealing with this
adventurous sport, especially during the first diving,
as I could have been afraid to dive though I practiced
many times. So my study of psychology helped me a lot in
knowing more about it and the fear, and also how to deal
with it just before diving. This sport needs a lot of
care and hard work and my study helped me a lot in this
aspect.
KT: Well, how do you prepare yourself for sky-diving?
MK:
The first and the most important thing in this sport are
security. So I used to check the security system in my
suit and in the parachute. One should not drink wine,
and stimulants like coffee are not allowed because the
diver should be 100 percent alert. We should mentally
prepare our selves and check everything like eyeglasses,
camera and helmet.
KT: What are the different kinds of sky-diving in this
adventurous sport?
MK:
There are three types of sky-diving. First is free
fall sky-diving AFF jumps , from a height of
14.900 feet. Second is tandem sky-diving,
from a height of about 12.500 to 14.900 feet,
and the last is static-line diving, from a height
of above 3.000 feet.
There is also
the HAHO Jump (High Altitude High Opening jump
from 29.000 Feet)
& HALO
Jump (High Altitude Low Opening jump )
KT: What is the highest distance that you have jumped so
far?
MK:
Yes that was 14.900 feet ( 4.500 meters ), and it was
dangerous according to my experiences.
KT: What are the different countries, where you have
sky-dived?
MK:
Italy, UAE and Jordan .
KT: What about the speed, while sky-diving?
MK:
It depends on the terminal velocity. If one falls
horizontally then the speed of diving would start from
200 Km's/hour. If one dives in a stand up or head down
position the speed would be 450 Km's per hour.
KT: What about the things that people should be careful
while practicing this sport?
MK:
Alertness and security are the important things, and it
is correlated to scuba diving. We should be careful
about the weather and the psychology of the person
diving, and for me before I dive, I used to practice at
least four times for security reasons. I used to be
aware of the height I would be diving and also about the
protective suite, which I wear.
KT: What do you feel when you sky-dive @ 200 km/hour ?
MK:
Believe me, the feeling that I have when I dive is the
ambition to continue with this journey and this sport.
On the other hand, I would like to tell you that there
are some people who sky-dived ( Jumped ) more than 38000
times, just for the comfort that they would feel it when
they jump. It's a different way, and you can be
individually with yourself, not with any one else. The
silence all around is wonderful and we pass through the
clouds, and this is not easy for any one as it is cold
and wet. Even during the summer the weather is cold in
the sky and it keeps me more close to Allah ( God
almighty ). I think about how the sky at this height,
and also the fact that I am far away from all the
problems in this world, and the mind is pure as the sky,
You can find Peace over there , I promise you .
KT : How long does it take when sky-diving from an
air-plane?
MK:
As I told you about the feelings happen in seconds, like
65 seconds, maximum.
KT :I can see that you have volunteered to help others
and to risk your life When you entered Iraq or through
The Kuwait Red Cross Society ( KRCS ) Campaigns that
you participate in Turkey , Afghanistan , Jordan ,Kosovo
, Indonesia . those was floods, earthquakes, armed
forces conflicts , we will not forget the fact that you
are a high school teacher it’s a very stressed career
as I know ?
KT: Can I ask you Mansour ,What do you believe in your
life?
MK: I
believe that no one is better than any one, and we are
equal in this life. I also believe that all person
should have an aim in his life and they should strive
very hard to fulfill his wishes and hopes. Nothing is
impossible in life because we have minds, and this mind
can do any thing, if we work in the right way. Allah
created us for a goal, and I want to tell people that,
the most important thing in the world is morals and
religions, to deal with each other.
KT: What is your goal in life and where do you aim to
reach?
MK:
From all what I have worked and from all what I have
seen in my life , I learned that every Muslim,
Christians, Jewish & all other religions all the
humanity should learn and should work very hard to help
each other to provide peace, fight hunger , clean the
Environment , fight crime , cure dieses .
KT: Have you ever thought of preparing courses for the
youth, to teach them all about what are you talking
about, Cause you are a School Teacher?
MK:
Yes, because I am a psychology teacher. A As I told you,
I used to teach the students in the classrooms, how to
work and how to get the benefits of their minds and
there valuable times, and also I give some classes for
them.
KT:
How Can People interested or need Information Contact
You?
MK:
They
can contact me at my e-mail : wawyloo@yahoo.com
.
I
would like to thank you & Kuwait Times for giving me
this opportunity.
KT:
Thank you
