My recollection of 9/11 (11th September 2001) terror attacks on USA

Last updated on 7th May 2019

As I am working on my part autobiography, I felt that I need to include my recollection of 9/11 terror attacks on USA. I decided to make a post of it first.

In September 2001, I was living with my elder brother and family in Dombivli, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dombivli, a city close to Mumbai (India), from where I would commute by suburban train to Mumbai for my work.

If I recall correctly (IIRC), I was at home (elder brother's flat) when I saw TV reports about one of the Twin Tower buildings of New York City being on fire. Note that the first Twin Tower attack happened at 8:46 AM Eastern Standard Time (US), which would be 6.16 PM (or close to that) in India. IIRC, I was watching CNN broadcast on what was then a big fire (but not yet declared as a terror attack). I think this CNN broadcast would have been either on CNN International channel or on CNN-IBN a sister network of CNN in India.

Then, IIRC, I saw live (or close to live), the second plane going into the second (South) Twin Tower. I could not believe my eyes. This seemed absolutely unbelievable. But it was being replayed on CNN and so I had to accept it as true!

I should say here that I have so many times been watching out for the top of the Twin Towers coming into view as I drove from Massachusetts/New Hampshire down to New York City in the second half of 1980s during my assignment stints in the USA. IIRC I have also been to the observation deck or whatever it was called on top of one of the Twin Towers, getting to the top using some fast elevators. So this was not some unknown buildings to me. I had even been on the top (or close to the top) of one of those two buildings, IIRC!

I don't exactly recall much of what I saw later that day. But I think I would have noted CNN calling it out as a terrorist attack not only on New York City but also Pentagon and elsewhere. And I am sure I would have noted the Twin Towers coming down, either live on TV or a little later.

The human suffering that happened that day (nearly 3000 died and slightly over 6000 were injured) did not come through immediately to me then. I mean, of course I would have realized that lots of people would have died and I am sure I would have been very sorry about that. But that sorrow was overwhelmed by the astounding and terrifying spectacle of the planes going into the Twin Towers, huge smoke coming out of the Twin Towers, and the Twin Towers later coming down with huge amount of debris being ejected with great force. Apocalyptic images! Utterly unbelievable! IIRC, I was in shock.

Later as I tried to come to terms with what had happened, IIRC, I wondered how USA, with the most powerful military force the world had ever seen, would react to this terrorist attack! Was there going to be a big war?

I felt very disturbed about what had happened and I feared how violently the USA would react.

I don't exactly recall this but I am sure I would have eventually turned to prayer to God and my Gurudev Sathya Sai Baba to help calm myself and also pray for USA and for peace in the world. I was not into any public writing of any sort then. I was just a software consultant doing his job and doing some spiritual service and other spiritual endeavour. These things were way beyond me to seriously analyze and comment then. But I would read & view analysis and comments of others in mainstream Indian media (print & TV).

In later years, especially after Mahasamadhi of Sathya Sai Baba in April 2011, as I started coming out of my self-imposed Puttaparthi/Prasanthi Nilayam cocoon and tried to get a better understanding of what's happening in the wider world, I read up and viewed up on 9/11. I saw horrific videos showing the human suffering in the Twin Towers attack. That really shook me up. Mind you, I repeat that, IIRC, I was on one of the same Twin Towers buildings myself in the second half of the 1980s. If I had been visiting NYC on that day in 2001 perhaps I may have been on the top floor (or among the topmost floors) in the observation deck (or whatever it is called) of one of the two buildings, when the attack happened! So the human suffering part not only was very real to me as I viewed these videos (after 2011) but also something that could have happened to me!

Note that of the 2996 people who died in the 9/11 attacks, 41 were Indian, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks.

Now that I am a social media writer, I think I should make a statement about my view on 9/11. I unequivocally condemn the horrible 9/11 (11th September 2001) attack on the USA. My heart goes out to the non-combatant victims of the heinous terrorist attack. I think it was terribly cowardly on part of the terrorists to have attacked non-combatants in this horrible manner.

It is a great tribute to the spirit of USA and of New York City in particular that they overcame that horrific attack. A memorial to 9/11, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_September_11_Memorial_%26_Museum, and One World Trade Center, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_World_Trade_Center, have come up in the same location where the Twin Towers stood. The terrorists' destruction was replaced by new and great construction and life moves on.

In my readings and viewings (after 2011), I also noted that USA foreign policy changed significantly after 9/11.
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Given below are some comment(s) from my Facebook post, https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/2474074562809106, associated with this blog post:

In response to a comment, I (Ravi) wrote:
Thanks for your important memory of 9/11. It was an arresting read. ... Yes, history does show that horrendous destruction has been part of life over the ages. But usually such destruction would be done only in wartime by state/kingdom actors. This was a terror attack by a non-state actor. That perhaps was the most chilling thing about 9/11 as it showed ***on live TV worldwide*** the destruction that non-state terror groups were capable of doing in the 21st century.
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