I saw the WTC crumble

I saw the World Trade Center crumble – I was sitting with some people sipping tea as we discussed the construction of my house when suddenly it happened. It was so sudden, so unbelievable. We watched in dismay as the aero plane struck the prestigious WTC. We sat transfixed and before we realized the full implications of what had happened and whether it was true, there came the second strike.

The program on the TV channel was short closed. There was a FLASH NEWS – and then followed the news breaking in bits and pieces – unlike the WTC which just crumbled to the ground in seconds taking with it thousands of innocent lives. There was no discrimination of whether the person who died was a Christian or a Muslim or a Hindu or a Jew – they all landed in a common burial – under the debris. A building that had taken years of planning and hundreds of man hours to erect had vanished in no time. It was a day of sorrow not only for the Americans but for everyone around the world. It was a threat to mankind and, whosoever planned it and prevailed upon the group of men and women to put it into action, must have spent many sleepless nights. They must still be haunted by the shadows of the dead and must have had to bear the curses of children who lost their parents, wives who lost their husbands, parents who lost their children, brothers who lost their sisters.

Nine-eleven was a wakeup call in many ways. It gave rise to more strict security checks on fights, screening of passengers, checking the baggage for hidden explosives – new anti terrorist measures were evolved. But, at the back of everyone’s mind lurk the all important question – has everyone learnt a lesson or would there be any repeat performance? Let us hope, for the sake of mankind, that no one will ever try to perpetrate any similar activity – no matter how provoked they might be. It is just not acceptable in a civilized society.