My 9/11 Story

Everyone has a 9/11 story. You know where you were and remember what you were doing. With clarity. I never really understood the enormity of 9/11 until I got here. This is my story, on that fatal day when the twin towers burned.

It was 2001. I was at a GMAT tutoring session in Andheri East; a suburb that's 4 train stations, 30 bumpy autorickshaw minutes or 1 excruciatingly long bus ride away from Bandra. You choose your mode, mine was always the bus, even at night. That's the funny thing about Bombay, there will always be a bus and it will always be okay to ride it.

We were focussing on the verbal component of the exam. Synonyms. Antonyms. Prose. My tutor was a certain Mr.Singh, always neatly beturbaned. Always with tie. His favorite word was "Capice". He used it as a punctuation mark and pronounced it with so much flair.

"Capice?"

"Understand?"

Me thinks that deep in his soul, that secret place between Mumbai and Amritsar, he felt the stirrings of an Italian. Gesticulation and all.

That's who relayed the news to me. He delivered it with befitting solemness. It was as if a lifetime's worth of expression and articulation culminated for him that night. Class was dismissed early. As I stood at the bus stop, I didn't think too much of the news. However, as the days and weeks unfolded, the gravity of the event struck home and my big concern was myself - if this would jeopardize my going. It didn't and I arrived in 2002.

In the last 9 years I have met so many people who had friends and family in and around the World Trade Center. 9/11 changed Americans. The biggest change, I believe, is the heightened awareness among everyday Americans of this religion called 'Islam' and with this awareness comes a slight mistrust. Sometimes barely perceptible, but always there.

Maybe I'm wrong, this may just be a Georgia thing. Atlanta is part of the "Bible Belt" - home to many conservative Christian denominations - Lutherans, 7thDay Adventists, Presbytarians, Catholics. Each with their own beliefs, practices and churches. I know from speaking with my neighbors and friends that 9/11 has made them wary of those of other faiths. Will this ever be reversed? Only time will tell.

I end this post with words from the President, on that fatal day.

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations
of our biggest buildings, but they cannot
touch the foundation of America.
These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent
the steel of American resolve.
America was targeted for attack because
we are the brightest beacon for freedom
and opportunity in the world.
And no one will keep that light from shining.”

President George W. Bush
September 11, 2001