It's the 8th

Time has flown, it seemed like just yesterday I packed up and said goodbye to family and friends in India and hopped aboard united airlines, the last united flight from India, to make a new life in Amreeca. Well that was 9/11/2001. It’s been incredible eight years. I have grown since then, I have gained so much experience, made many friends and lost few. I have gained lot of knowledge both good and bad. I have learned a lot and have become wiser. It has been truly great so far but I will never forget 9/11.

To wind back 8 years ago on this day, US had been forever changed by a senseless act of terrorism. 8 years ago, the world around us changed in dramatic and unprecedented fashion and in ways we are still discovering. While our collective pain has become less, individual pain remains sharp and our collective consciousness remembers. Let us never forget the way it felt that day. We will be touched by September 11, 2001 for the rest of our lives in ways I cannot begin to fathom. I remember saying that everything had changed and everything looked different. Hardly a sublime statement, but true. I still remember that day when everything came to a standstill and can feel the pain of the people who lost their loved ones as those incidences I saw through my own eyes sickened me for quite a long time.

I want to remember and pay homage to the victims who died on this day. I want to salute the people who sacrificed their lives to protect US, such as the heroes of United 93 and the firefighters, NYPD and enumerable volunteers.Today, I want to pay respect to those who had put down their lives while rescuing a stranger without selfishly thinking about themselves or their families. I want to remember all those who have given their lives since then, protecting us!. All These people teach us the lesson to believe in unity and integrity and above all God.

Lets hope for a united World and lets pray for those serving our country, lets remember those who perished that day and their families. And lets hope that God bless us, who remember that day.

It's been 8 long years and the Journey continues as I go remembering, discovering and progressing myself along with the memories of 9/11.

The End, which was a new begining

There have been quite a number of fine and terrible moments in my life, some I would like to remember some of them I would just like to forget; but there is one event, a particular date I can never forget that changed the world around me. This was when I came to the US. I was all alone but was really excited about coming to America. The land I have seen through the 35mm screen of Hollywood or read in newspapers and magazines.

The day finally arrived I was about to leave my parents, my family my little sister and my friends, I have had for my entire life. I bid farewell to them, boarded my plane and left to explore the whole new world ahead of me, all alone. After a long and tiring journey of fifteen hours sitting on the plane, as I was too scared to get up as somebody might steal my stuff overhead my seat, I finally reached US. I was tired, jetlagged and scared but some part of me was exited to Explore America, "The land of dreams". I landed later than the scheduled time due to some landing delay at Washington Dulles airport ,went through the customs and just as I was about to look for the gate to catch a connecting flight to Philadelphia I heard that my flight has been cancelled due to bad weather.

I was upset and went to one of the counters to inquire about my flight. She looked at me for a moment as if was an alien, and sure I was for her as she was for me, in this alien land. I asked her if I could take another flight to Philadelphia and she said that there is none, but after a pause she told me that she could put me in some other airlines on another flight. I was so happy and thanked her for her kind gesture and thought that people are so friendly and helpful here even to aliens. Well I went to the terminal as indicated by her. I checked in one of the counters but she said that she doesn't have any info about me. I was annoyed by this and my tired feet dragged my body and I went back to the earlier terminal. She sent me to some other airline counter but was no help and still the same as they didn't have any info about me. I again went up to that lady she was rude to me this time and told me that she cant help me anymore. I was helpless and thought that I have come to a wrong place and wanted to take the next flight back home.

I heard other fellow passengers having the same problem and discussing about other alternatives to reach their destinations. I asked one of the passengers and luckily he was on his way to New York. He talked to few other passengers and decided that he would rent a car and drive me along with three others. At first I thought for a while what if they take me to some deserted place in the car and throw me out of the window and take all my belongings. Well, somehow I gathered courage and decided to go along, the lady at the counter took us to the plane parking area and it took us quiet some time to identify our luggage as it was dark. I was little nervous, we rented the car and started driving. Well it took us around three hours to reach Philly and it was early in the morning.

I remember asking someone what day it was as I had lost track of time due to change in time zones and someone said it is September 11.

Yes, it was September 11, 2001. The day everything came to a halt. The day everyone’s lives would never be the same again. The day thousands of people lost their loved ones. The day I, like the rest of world will never forget. The people I drove with dropped me at the airport I thanked them and called my cousin.

He came to pick me up it was around 6 am and I saw America for the first time. It all looked huge to me; tall buildings, long roads, and hoards of people trying to kill each other just get to the other side of the road.

Anyways, I was tired and reached my cousins apartment and collapsed on the bed. After some time I heard some noise it was my cousin trying to wake me up. He told me that there is a plane accident on WTC. We switched on the TV and within a minute we saw another plane crashing into the building.

I was still half asleep and wanted to go back to bed. By now we could see a huge lump of smoke on the TV screen. After some time we heard a knock on his door it was his neighbor telling him that everyone has been asked to evacuate their buildings as it could be some kind of terrorist attack.

I got scared, well we picked up few belongings and headed out. Outside on the street there was panic everywhere I could hear ear deafening sirens moving in all directions. We headed to the nearest subways station, it was being closed. We took a cab to get out of Philly to my aunts place in the suburbs. I could see everyone running here and there. As we were walking heard that there have been a terrorist attack and all roads to have been shut we were just lucky to get out. We heard that another plane crashed into pentagon.

Somehow we reached my aunt's place I could hear people shouting hysterically everywhere. Everyone was upset. I was numb as I didn't know what to do and also because I was tired.

I went to bed but couldn't sleep. I could hear people crying and shouting in my nightmares. At one moment I thought I was better off back home there were hundreds of questions running in my mind like, why have I come here? What is going to happen to all of us? And so on.

When I woke up it was almost dark. The house was silent .I was cold for a few days didn't speak much to anyone. I looked at my diary I had made plans to a NYC city tour and WTC was on top on my list. Well I thought I would never be able to see it. For around three days we didn't go out of the house much and later I came to Philly and things started getting back to normal for everyone but not the same way it used to be.

I was nervous and sad by witnessing events I have never had thought even in my dreams. I was all alone in this new changed world all around me and it didn't appear to be as pleasing and attractive as I thought it would be before I came here, but as days, weeks and months passed and now it has been years I overcame all fears and nervousness and this alien world has become my home, my friends have become a part of my life.

But whenever I look back and remember 9/11 I tremble remembering those images I had witnessed and the world around me which changed forever. And this was reality and not the "land of dreams" making 9/11 the first day in US and most memorable day ever in my life.

I wrote this article many years back and the incident i had witnessed is still fresh in my life. I pay my homage to all the families and victims affected by 9/11.

New York Movie

It has been few years since 9/11 happened and it definitely is a very sensitive issue as it changed the carefree life of Americans into fear, at least for me as whenever I think of 9/11 it brings back those memories which I really want to wipe out of my mind but can’t as that was my first day in the land of dreams which turned into a nightmare.

Well, coming back to the movie this was a brilliant and first attempt by bollywood on the 9/11 issue. Although I thought it went a little away from the subject and some scenes were weak in portraying the real issue with too much of emotional drama.

All the three lead characters are Muslims affected by the 9/11 in varied ways and to different degrees. Sameer turns a scapegoat of the situation; Omar's identity gets him in trouble and is confused between loyalty, friendship and love. Roshan's character offers that ray of hope prevailing amidst discriminating humankind while serving his homeland (all three of them were Muslims). Unfortunately the wide scope it could have represented with the contrast of the characters wasn’t used to film's core theme and lacked the contemporary nature to truly challenge the political placements.

Though the film still uses its narrative to good effect and it is a well formed combination of Omar's life and highlights just how different the world has become for him. At first America is seen in a negative light for torturing Muslims and then the films moves to Muslims standing up against terrorism to make a better life for Muslims in America. These two core messages keep playing until the conclusion and whenever the film appears to be pro Muslim it undercuts this peaceful tone with America’s hate for immigrants and Muslims. Both sides were right and wrong in their own ways. There is a bit of a love triangle typical of Yash Raj Films with Maya dedicating her life for her husband, Omar secretly loving Maya and entering their lives just because he still has a soft corner for her.

New York is an interesting film but fails to deliver the message it could have, but has an excellent epilogue delivered by Roshan in the ending scenes. It hasn’t broken any new grounds on 9/11 issue but has refreshed the memories and the turmoil some innocent people had to go through. I still see the pain of 9/11 around me and it “hurts”.