Growing up with stories of 9/11

When I was in ninth grade, we lived in New Delhi in a rented apartment. The day of 9/11/2011 was a school night. I remember that because I loved spending time with my parents for dinner. My sister had moved to Pune for college earlier that year. I was at home with my parents. Sometime between 8:15pm and 8:30pm we heard from neighbors that planes had crashed into the World Trade Center buildings. 

We had a TV but no cable, we only got the national TV. So my dad went downstairs to our landlord’s house to watch the news and after some time I followed him. I was shocked and curious. I had never seen any violence before. And even as we watched the news, I didn’t fully understand what it meant for the people stuck in the buildings or the firefighters and emergency personnel who perished that day. I had been protected all my life. So the only thing I understood was that a lot of people were dead. And while I knew that they were gone, I didn’t think about the pain they might’ve suffered or the people they left behind. I was shocked. Mainly because of the death. It felt like they were given no choice. I had read about wars in history books but didn’t really understand the impact and loss of life that happened or the conditions that people lived in during and after wars. So this active violence was shocking to me. For weeks after the incident I read newspapers front to end and followed up on recovery efforts. I still didn’t really grasp the pain and loss of life. I did focus a lot on reading about the airplane passengers as they were aware that something was wrong sometime before the planes crashed into the buildings and they were scared. As I said before I didn’t even realize that a lot of people were evacuated from the buildings before they collapsed. I thought they died instantly and didn’t feel the pain. I do remember my mom telling me to stop reading the paper and that I was obsessing too much over the event. She doesn’t remember telling me that now when I asked her about it on our call last Sunday.

Overtime I’ve become wiser to the agony we humans go through during war time and crises. I’ve read about historical events like colonialism, world war 2 and so on. I have watched documentaries and accounts from survivors. And so when I watched the movie World Trade Center on Netflix last week, I was intrigued about the event that happened almost 20 years ago. Note that I fast forwarded the movie in places because I didn’t want to watch the painful parts of Nicolas Cage’s character being stuck under rubble of a collapsing building with his fellow firefighters. I can’t imagine the hardship firefighters go through in general. Forget about being stuck in a high-rise building knowing that you’re walking into certain death. And then I started to wonder about the people stuck in the buildings on the day. I googled about the characters from the movie to see if they survived and if they’re OK now. I started watching YouTube videos about how the event unfolded and survivor encounters. I was horrified to learn that many people burnt to death. I was horrified to learn that a lot of people jumped to death to avoid being burnt to death. I was horrified to learn that some people didn’t realize that they needed to escape. They thought they had time. They didn’t get a chance or the choice. I don’t think I could ever be as brave as the firefighters, cops and emergency personnel who perished that day. They knew it was bad. I can only hope and pray that they didn’t suffer. And I am saddened about all the folks who still live with the consequences of that day, whether it be because they lost a loved one, or they survived with PTSD, or they helped in the aftermath and ended up with PTSD and health issues. Over 150 types of cancers have been found among personnel who selflessly helped the recovery and cleanup efforts in the aftermath. There was no office furniture, no computers or desks, no furnishings. Almost everything had been pulverized. This includes over 1400 people whose remains were never found. The remains that were found were all pieces. So the recovery workers were inhaling aesbestos, jet fuel and all sorts of organic and inorganic compounds that are not really healthy for us. A lot of them ended up breathing or GI related health problems and more. Years of their lives were shaved off. Can you imagine the suffering and ensuing bills?

A lot of people didn’t know for a while if their family members were alive that day for a while. The phone lines were down. Everyone was calling 911. And for some that trauma continued for years as the remains of those found were identified. And the final list of missing compiled. I can’t imagine their pain. Just thinking of losing my parents or my sister or nephew at all makes me feel homeless. They are my home.

I did wonder about other ways survivors could have evacuated. At least the ones who were stuck above the impact zone could have lived had they been evacuated somehow. If they had parachutes or mini hot air balloons or ropes or rock climbing gear or gliding suits, could it have helped? Could we build hovercrafts or jet packs designed to fly up to 100-200 floors in case of emergencies? Airplanes have life vests. Why can’t we come up with something for high rise buildings? We have so many engineers and scientists on our planet. And there has been so much discovery and advancement in material sciences. Surely there’s a way. We definitely need more options. Helicopters were not allowed to fly close to the buildings that day for safety reasons. From what I have found, there is definitely a plan to build more high rises in the future. Cities like New York, Hong Kong and so on will continue to rise vertically and will need more than safer building architectures.

After watching all these videos I realized what a death trap these high-rises are and I want to avoid them as much as possible. The tallest building in Boston I have been in is The Prudential. I love the sky walk observatory audio tour. But I have never even thought about emergency exits or stairways whenever I have gone there. I know that next time I will. 

I also realized that I actually have been to the new World Trade Center building. I visited with my close friends on 4th of July weekend in 2016. There is a picture of the 4 of us in the newly built train station. I didn’t even think of my safety that day. I googled a video on how it was built. The new design is meant to be stronger and has a lot of security to measures… the stairs are wider to allow faster evacuation. There is a separate stairway for emergency personnel. The octogonal design is meant to protect against strong wind and impact. The foundation core is solid and goes all the way to the top and has a stronger concrete blend. The glass is stronger and was tested for impact. It’s all great but we can’t prepare for everything. When the World Trade Centers were built in 1970s, nobody could have imagined that someone would fly commercial planes full of jet fuel into them. I am sure if someone got into their head to damage the new building they would find a way. Cause there is always a way. Just because we can’t imagine it yet, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. So the thought of going into that building terrifies me. But if I ever do, I will pay attention to the floor plans and make sure that I know the emergency exits. That’s the best I can do. And pray for the souls lost on 9/11/2001. I hope they Rest In Peace. 🙏

P.S: I apologize for any typos, grammatical errors or other mistakes. I am also sorry if I offended anyone. Just wanted to share what it felt like to see 9/11 unfold as a kid, it’s impact on those affected and what I felt.