#365DaysOfWriting — Day 126
It’s been 15 years since 9/11
I remember, I was a kid in my 11th Std. back then, studying at MVM (Maharishi Vidya Mandir) in Chennai.
I was always up early (it’s a family custom) and I was getting ready for school, when I saw both my parents in the living room, looking intently at CNN.
“We have just received reports that an airplane has crashed into one of the Twin Towers…”
That’s how it all began. It began as the news of a terrible accident. So many lives, cruelly lost for nothing. And it was all bad luck.
Just then, a SECOND plane crashed into the Twin Towers. That’s when everything changed. It wasn’t an accident any more. There was no ‘luck’ involved, per se. It was a concentrated terrorist attack.
When I got to school, everyone was talking about it.
From the teachers, to the admin/cleaning staff, to the students — everyone and their mother suddenly had an opinion as to who the hijackers were, how it would affect India, how many lives were lost (the numbers during discussion ranged from 1,000 to 10,000, never less). It was chaos. And we weren’t even in the vicinity. We were thousands of miles away in a different country. And yet we were discussing it.
India has had her fair share of terrorist attacks since then.
Almost immediately after 9/11, in the same year, we had October 1st — the attack on the J&K Legislative Assembly, and December 13th, 2001 — the attack on the Indian Parliament. We also had the 2006 Mumbai local train bombings, the 2008 siege on the Taj and Oberoi hotels, CST and most of South Mumbai. Sadly, the attacks have only increased. The hatred grows.
All I want to say is, I hope this world finds a solution. I don’t have one yet, I don’t know if I ever will in my lifetime. Keeping all conspiracy theories and fantastical stories aside, I hope that one day, the world will be safe. No one deserves to lose their lives so cheaply.
