....some where...on the banks of Hudson, directly across from Manhattan..atop the Holland Tunnel, sometime in the morning..on Sept 11 ...........
beep...beep........."hello....who is that?"...
...."Ananthu re"...
.."hmm...abey ananthu..kyaa ho rahaa hai....subeh...subeh..."
(English: Hey Ananthu, why the heck did you wake me up early morning)
....WTC pe aag lagee hai sunaa...dikh rahee hai kyaa...
(English: Heard there is fire on WTC, do you see it?)
.....I note that it is a bright day with the sunshine flooding through the big window..
...."haann"..(English: Yes)......fire and smoke... yes...I see that"
...then a spell of inertia, phone disconnects...I doze off...bliss....
Cell phone beeps.....call from Ananthu...again - the co-worker is at work in Mid-town Manhattan...I had worked late the previous night and was home sleeping....
abey raghu theek sey bataanaa.... aag dikh rahee hai kyaa ?...
(English: Hey Raghu, wake up and confirm the fire up there, can you see it?)
I looked out of my 31st floor apartment bedroom window across from WTC on the other side of Hudson and this time, processing the magnitude of improbability of what I saw really woke me up, to put it mildly - I was off the bed involuntarily.
The thought freeze lasted a moment...then I rushed to get the handy-cam and started shooting mechanically - looking through the window,literally.
Eventually found myself rushing to the lobby and I rode down in the elevator for what seemed like an eternity and reached the Hudson river side walk.
That is when I noticed that the second plane had already hit - in that gap of about a minute.
More shock followed..when I thought I couldn't take more.
All around me, it was heart wrenching. Folks were wailing mentioning about their dear and loved ones trapped on the other side.
I had no idea how or from where some professional Photographers assembled around with huge array of equipment and assistants in tow.
Across the river, very close to the base of the WTC complex, boats, ferries and more had gathered. A mix of Cost guard, rescue, onlookers, media and more.
The shock was taking a toll. I was calm but trembling. For a moment I wondered how on the earth was the building still standing tall with all that fire.
I got my answer in a few minutes. The chaos that followed is better left unsaid. The tall Antenna tower started to sway and crash first. Then the domino effect followed. The boats started to make emergency U turns and literally fly away. People and other objects were literally flying out of burning and now crashing building.
I made a mental note to take all emergency drills very seriously - what better lesson than this?
Within moments, the second building also collapsed. Everything around was a mix of smoke, white ash and dust, debris.
I rushed upstairs and started a Yahoo Messenger Video chat call with my manager Ravi and the Admin head Marty.
Some one suggested I should go shave my beard etc. I did. Back in the call, we took stock of safety of folks from our company and other logistics.
Ananthu eventually made it home by evening...and lives happily in southern India now.
I saved the video clips for a very long time. Then deleted it. The memories and nightmares stay on though.....True-Def - Life Size
