9/11 : Your reaction when the event happened and now ..

[RBee]

Around 11:50am on 9/11 on 2001, got a call from DH to switch ON the TV news channels. Was numbed to see hollywood style real life effects unveiling on TV realtime. Wasn't much of a news follower but weeks following 9/11, I was glued to TV set to see the coverage.I was on maternity leave trying to rock the weeks old baby to sleep at that exact moment when I got call to turn on TV. So missed office colleague's instant reaction. Was part of candle light vigils in neighborhood and husband wrote the first(and last) check for American Red Cross for relief efforts.

Kuch paakar khona hai, kuch khokar paana hai - A song from Hindi movie 'Kora Kagaz'
(In gaining one must lose something, in losing one must gain something)

But after 9/11, US has lost and lost (in it's stature, credibility, wealth creation for middle/poor class) and gained nothing much in return at global or local level. Young investors like us gained nothing much as it's a lost decade for us , young employees who were looking for a good growth in career are/were stalled with limited opportunities.

If 50 years from now, if we look back to see when the balance of shift from west to east happened, IMO it was on 9/11 and the aftermath on how US handled the crisis.

Share your views and thoughts of where were you and what did you think on the event then and what do you think now (as 9/11 10th anniversary is coming up soon).

[Sid]

Was having dinner in the Dining Hall of my undergrad college hostel. All of a sudden the whole hostel rushed in the little TV room, and it was an enormous crowd. People stayed glued to the only TV in the hostel, all night. Seniors in final year were all upset, as they clearly knew it meant US would go to war, and their scholarships will go to drain. That particular graduating class had the worst of the luck. Just 6 months back, due to dot com bust, the whole of class of Summer 2001, was getting their multiple job offers taken back. So for class of 2002, there already was no hope of a job. And now due to 9/11 the hopes of getting a US schol too seemed slipping away...

Not to mention... there were few tears in some eyes too, due to the tremendous shock of the event. I think America became the most loved nation in that room, at that time.

[rajradio]

my older child was born on the same day same time but in India. There was a southern grid black out in HYD at time, but the hosptial had power( so people were calling us to ask.....what was happening in USA...while my wife was having a ceasarian). It was a very sad moment, for the world but a very good one for us personally. We called our daughter-Avighna- means "undestroyable"...actually means "one who over comes all obstacles" .

RK

[gurusw]

It is not 9/11 that shifted power from West to East. The stock market had popped 18 months before 9/11, and recession was already underway. Yes, the recession got prolonged, but it got over too. The worse thing that happened was the creative financial products that were sold to public by GS, MS, and their likes. Especially considering all this happened in the same decade. And when the housing bubble burst, the command man lost big time. QE1, QE2, TARP, and what not. 9/11 is a significant event, but I do not think it as big as French revolution, or Rise of communism. There are multiple sequential events in the last decade that have collectively made USA a less popular destination than it used to be.

[layman]

I had already seen the destruction of Babri Masjid, the aftermath and Bombay bomb blasts (the first one courtesy Dawood) when I was in India. So, when I saw the twin tower going down, I felt - OK we had it in India, now we have it in US. But, for Americans it was a very big deal since they have never seen terrorism at work so close.

Regarding the OP's comment that after 50 yrs we would look back and think that power shift from west to east on 9/11, that is a long stretch of imagination. First, I am not even sure whether the power shift will happen. In 80s they used to say Japan will overtake US as the largest economy. I think US will recover from the housing crisis in around 5-10 yrs and will still be a force to reckon with. It may not be the no.1 in GDP but that is not everything.

[KirKS]

Share your views and thoughts of where were you and what did you think on the event then and what do you think now (as 9/11 10th anniversary is coming up soon).

A day I can never forget. A day that had tremendous impact on me, not just on how deep terrorism can penetrate, but also seeing tragedy unfold on the streets.

For a few years before 9/11, I was working in mid-town, a bit south of Empire State Building. Since space was an issue, a branch office was opened north of Grand Central station. My regular commute was to get to Penn station via NJ Transit, then change a couple of subways via Times Square and get to Grand Central. I disliked the change of subways, and preferred to walk about 17-18 minutes one way, each day.

That fateful day, I had to be in office at 9. So was near 6th avenue, behind the NY Library, walking towards 5th avenue. Something was not right. I guess, just before I got to 6th avenue and 40th street, some people had seen the first plane hitting the WTC. No one knew what happened. By the time I got to 42nd street and 5th avenue, from where it was always my routine to turn south & watch the majestic WTC, the 2nd plane was seconds away from its target. I guess it was not the one Mohammed Atta was flying.

The door man of a building there made a very panic face when I looked at him... and we both turned south. Boom... smoke.. Couldn't really hear noise, but it was SHOCKING.. He said he saw one before too. We couldn't guess that planes were hitting. We thought something else was happening, as we were at least 3 miles away. But since Manhattan island is at a higher spot around 42nd street, downtown was more clearly visible.

I waited for a minute, saw the smoke, and walked to office. Never expected the extent of the damage.

It must have been 25-30 minutes by then. Started getting panic calls from the main office a few blocks down south. *Possible TERROR Attack*. I never ever expected that I would live in the greatest city on the planet, New York, and hear that our city was attacked this badly. Since they had TV over there, it was getting much clear.

Since I was dealing with a big client in NJ, where they had all assembled at the TV in cafeteria, I started getting calls. Are you crazy? Do you know what's happened in NY? Why are you still sending emails from a multi storied building? Get out... Even then, I wasn't aware of the seriousness of the situation. Informed via email a few friends in India too about WTC in smoke.

Soon we are evacuating the building as one guy with radio, started giving us the real story. Faces were red. Some angry, some emotional. Soon I was walking down the 5th avenue down south. I had never seen New Yorkers that agitated or emotional before. Everyone was staring down south. The first building had collapsed. The second one in thick smoke. By the time I was nearing Empire state building, close to 35th, started seeing people sitting on the side walk crying. One girl had a boyfriend in the building. One had a friend. Almost everyone was emotional. They had seen that one building had collapsed, which I wasn't aware of still. My aim was to get to the main office and then head to blood donation or something like that.

And then the unbelievable thing happened. The second building collapsed. We were far away, so in smoke, we could only see the top 20-25 floors, but in seconds, huge cloud of dust miles down south. The most cherished pair of buildings that I used to see every day, multiple times, just vanished. Then fear started creeping in. Is there more? Cell phone lines were jammed in most case.. I am seeing people crying on the side walk. People are hugging each other, sometimes total strangers in emotion. Panic attempt to get through cell phone lines (10 year old infrastructure). Some are running or calling cabs. More police showing up everywhere. People flocking to see TV in Delis or wherever they can find.

I got one call which I would never forget. It was from a wife of my newly married friend in NJ, who used to work in WTC. They were married just then. I said to the girl.. just hang up. Let me try reaching him, as your lines are not going through. Luckily I got through him the first attempt and it seems he had missed his PATH train to downtown. Relayed the same to his wife and she still remembers that message till date. Then a call from my brother in India. I said.. don't worry, I am fine. Of course, I had to call home in NJ much earlier to inform the same.

Reached the main office. Most had left by then, except some hard core folks who were still programming. We decided to head to blood donation camp, but someone told me that I may not be able to donate if I visited India recently. So decided to just get to NJ back. By then, trains were suspended. We knew we had been attacked. I don't recall if Bush had spoken by then, or was being flown to Nebraska from Florida. We learnt that our only option was to take a ferry from near Chelsea pear.

Let me be honest. By then, it was speculated that Middle Eastern Muslims had done it. Something in my mind was fearing the worst. We weren't middle easterners, but in a frenzy, if something goes wrong? We had seen a superpower being brought to knees, with our own eyes, on the streets. The unimaginable thing, damning the spirit of New York was happening. When we reached the Ferry point, there were literally 1000s standing. The lines were blocks and blocks by then, going in zig zag. It took me nearly 6 hours to cross the Hudson river that day. Amidst so many people, White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian, the fear of someone getting violent was too real. I was as sad as them. I was as angry at the terrorists as them. But there's something called features & color, which for someone from India, who had heard 1984 riots kind, was in the mind all the time.

Luckily, the New Yorkers showed their best that day. Blood donations, consoling total strangers (I did too), helping with calls, carrying the stuff for those too emotional, helping with rides, keeping order amidst such a panic situation and most importantly keeping off racial or other abuses in anger. My respect for America went up 1000 times in those 6 hours that I spent trying to cross over a 1.5 mile wide river. Hats off :emrose:

When we got to the NJ side, we could see the extent of the damage in down town only via a big cloud of dust. We were asked which street we worked, so that we could be segregated for chemical sanitizing by the Port Authority police. It again took some effort to get shared cabs to get to Newark and then home.

We lived in a place in NJ, where Indians and Arabs were not that much *loved*. We did see some display of things over the next few days, which we didn't want to see, but most were mild. I stopped running during early mornings to play safe. The next 2 days, didn't go anywhere. Call me paranoid, but I wanted to buy "I am not an Arab" T-shirt or cap.. seriously.. Life sometimes pushes you to some limits, which are hard to imagine sitting away from the happenings. Add to it the constant barrage of calls from my mother.. "just pack everything and you guys come back home". My mother even got an interview from Deccan Herald news paper in Bengaluru, which wrote that I was a 'stone throw' away from WTC when it happened.. I laugh at the exaggeration even today, but you know what, everyone wanted to talk about those who survived from anywhere in Manhattan. This was truly the first 21st century 'spectacle' for media.

When I got back to NY the following Friday, the most remarkable thing I noticed is a Sikh gentleman standing at the same 42nd street & 5th ave corner, and handing off "Who are Sikh people" pamphlets. This was probably after that Arizona attacks for turban wearing. I talked to him and really felt the energy he had to educate people, and help his own tribe. Hats off to him for taking courage & doing what he did that day. I doubt 99 out of 100 would ever venture into 'educating' when their own lives could be in danger.

Visited the ground zero plenty of times after that. Always recalled the spot where I was, at a client place, a couple of blocks away from WTC, on 9/10 at 8.30 AM! If the planes had hit 24 hours earlier, it could have been me, within smoke/flying metal distance! 9/11 didn't end for us, those of us who consider ourselves New Yorkers, in the year 2001 itself. It carried on.. At airports, in parties, while sending group/junk mails, every night on TV, during candle light vigils, during donation camps, during volunteer opportunities, during interviews for those displaced from downtown, during our roles as 'guides' for visitors for months/years into future, during even a street cart food purchase.. it was flashing before our eyes, again and again.. It actually made me much hard on terrorism than most, for a reason. I had seen with my own eyes a real human tragedy.. I had actually connected with their suffering on that fateful day. Even today, I keep imagining what the fourth plane's passengers must have thought or said to themselves when they knew they were going down in Pennsylvania..

On 2002 Sep 11th, I wore the "We Remember" US flag & badge on my shirt. I still can't express how much people appreciated in the office, during meetings, that gesture. It was a proclamation beyond words! ..and my remembering the victims of 2001 has continued till date. What happened after that, politically & militarily is a longer topic...some other time..

..some days just bury in your mind perpetually...

[ycl1688]

America lost its innocent after 9/11, it turns its racist eyes to immigrants. It is all its own fault for
not securing their borders, with Atta holding tourist visa, trying to plan evil deeds, he was held for
frequent visits once at Miami, yet nothing has been done. Yet another 9/11 terrorist young guy from Saudi Arabia
listed his address in a hotel in his own native address, got the visa, as a result of fast track visa processing in middle east, Clinton did them a great favor, because visa fees are lucrative business for Uncle Sam. Many more loopholes are there, it will not be surprised another tragedy bound to happen, just hope it will never happen.

[Rajram]

We visited NY city and the twin towers during the July 4th weekend that year about 60 days before 9/11. I regret for not taking enough pictures of those towers. Last summer when we visited NYC, saw the new building come up to 20 floors or so.

[oasis138]

America lost its innocent after 9/11,.

That's a strech

[okonomi]

We visited NY city and the twin towers during the July 4th weekend that year about 60 days before 9/11. I regret for not taking enough pictures of those towers. Last summer when we visited NYC, saw the new building come up to 20 floors or so.

Would going around to modern cities and taking pictures with/of tall buildings these days, especially when looking brown and smelling of cumin/coriander, cause suspicion ?