My Two Darlings!!!

Anu - Anuja - Mosiqi

Guess its time to introduce Anuja(s). My both best friends share the same name. Yeah, one of them is Anuja Shah (previously Taktawala) and another is Anuja Kastia (who soon will adopt Shah after 7 Dec)... But Anuja Shah (ex-Taktawala) is fondly called Jadu (she is thinner than me now... but not so in the olden times and therefore the name)... and Anuja Kastia is called Anu (short and sweet as per her frame)

I met both of them in 11th std at MK Higher Secondary School. It was the most historic time of my life. Completely shocked at the culture of the school - i had a real tough time getting use to the environment. Students would talk in Gujarati (we always spoke in English at AG)... teachers had aliases... all students would rush outside the class after each lecture and would come in only when they saw the next teacher approaching... and if all this wasnt enough, hardly 10 out of 50 students were interested in studying the subjects that ARTs stream offered. As i understood much later, most of them had been 'dumped' into arts because they hadnt scored enough to be in Science or Commerce. And there was I. I had chosen to be in Arts. I wasnt dumped into that stream. And i found very few students who fell into the same category. Anu was one among them. She loved Psychology and planned to major in it one day and therefore had chosen to take up Arts. And Anuja was least interested in studying. It was forced upon her. And she didnt mind coming to school as she got to hang out with friends and bully the rest. She didnt care if it was Arts or Science or Commerce. 'E to jene bhanvu hoy, ene chinta'....

Anu - Shital - Tulsi - Mosiqi - Anuja

Anu was very sweet to me. Asked me my name, helped me catch up with the chapters i had lost out on and generally chatted with me, giving me company in the breaks sometimes... And Anuja was verrrrryyy bad to me. She use to make fun of my name, use to tease me 'what sort of a name is this that sounds like mosquito'.... and did everything in her means to bully me. She would eat away my samosa... and one day when the red sauce fell on my uniform... she kept on teasing me that i had stained myself... GOD, it was so embarassing...

That was the start of our friendship... we went on to study with the same Tuition teacher when we got into XIIth... we (anu and myself) somehow got Anuja interested in studying and she scored so good that everybody was left dumbstruck...

We went to different colleges.... they went to LD Arts and i got enrolled in Xavier's... but the love that we have for each other continued... it was extremely easy to be around each other... it was so comfortable that you could talk about how stupid your boyfriend was being to exchanging clothes and beauty tips and romance tips... thats how girls are... and thats exactly what we three were about... but inspite of being so alike... we all three are complete different individuals...

Jaymin Anu - Mosiqi Amul - Anuja Aditya

ANU - She's the dabbu one... though extremely good at academics, she lacks the worldly wise... she's so sweet and naive about so many things in the world... and lives in her own cocoon. She is extremely friendly with everybody around her but when it comes to her relationship, she's this quiet one. Prefers to keep quiet (because her guy-jaymin talks a lotttt) and she's so petite in size that one can hardly do anything but cuddle her... thats Anu. She refuses to believe that she's the shortest. (even after 12 years, anu and anuja argue who's taller. My verdict - Anuja's taller) But that's Anu. Even with her small frame, she can argue forever...

Anu has this most irritating habit of making us pamper her when she wants to go to sleep. She will nicely take your hand rubbing softly on her arms... god... its so irritating.. but as anu explains it, 'please yaar... mane bahu sari ungh aavse'... and you end up obeying her...

Anu is also the world saver. Prompt in her actions to offer kindness to anyone who asks for it. And god forbid if there's a tsunami or an earthquake, no force on this earth can stop her from going to serve the needy people. She loves living in the muck, among needy helpless people and providing them care and support. She's aptly chosen the line of Social Service for herself... I will never understand why should one go to a place ravaged with such a calamity when people are dying and suffering... But that's Anu. 'You know me mos," is what Anu always says....

YES i know you babe... i will be extremely unhappy when u get married this Dec... not only you will be officially engaged in a different life of your's but will also find even lesser time and absolutely no reason to be in Ahmedabad... I hate marriages!!!

ANUJA - The married one!!! Yeah, she was the first among us to get married. She's this epitome of how a woman should be. Ekdum pati-vrata and family oriented, her entire life revolves around her 5 lakh relatives... god! If there was a family management and communication program, Anuja would be a topper of that course. She's extremely good with managing relatives... Hello, kem cho? Accha... Su Vaat che... Le, accha... God.. and it will go on and on. If i go crazy and anti-social if i am left lose between more than 10 of my relatives, Anuja can juggle 20 conversations together at a time. She's an extremely good event management, be it her own wedding, birthday parties or just parties... She would know whom to call, when to call, what to cook, how to cook, how to manage and viola... the party is a hit!!

Anuja though extremely good with people, can be a real bully with the others... She use to bully me a lot in school. Once i knew her, i turned the tables and made her study when she didnt want to and actually managed to take her to a trekking camp, which she hates from the core of her heart. I still remember Jambughoda camp. She use to literally frown at every other step. And if making her walk wasnt enough, on a self exploration trek, we took the wrong track and ended up walking seven extra kilometers that day. When we returned to the base camp, last among all the groups, we discovered that we had taken the wrong path and therefore ended up late. God!! Anuja was so furious... she not only swore never to go on a trekking camp again, she made it a point to frown in all the pictures we took at the camp. Not to forget that how she use to bully a newly married couple who had come on the trek... GOD!! Anuja will be at her furious best, if you take her trekking... where she cant bath twice in a day and can hardly manage hygiene.

But when she's not bullying her sister, or aditya (her husband) or Anu and me, she loves to cook. She's extremely good at time management and can actually manage a 3 course meal in an hour's time. 'Vaar ketli laage?'... is what she will remark when Anu and I are wide eyed at her achievement. That's Anuja. One from whom i learn all the worldly wise tips of how to behave domestic and sweet and good.

My two darlings... as i call them... are far away in Mumbai. One is already married and another one's wedding is 2 months away. I miss them tremendously. Every time's there's a sale or i feel like buying cosmetics or just going out for a coffee... i miss them the most. There were days and also nights when we chatted up without realising how many hours had pass. Nowadays, its all time bound, we meet for 30 mins at a nearby cafe and sometimes just manage to talk on phone. What with having to please an entire horde of relatives and parents and other responsibilities to finish, no one's got the time or rather that kind of time that we use to spend... some 5 years ago.

My wish - Just the three of us on a Bangkok Holiday!!! Now that would be great!!!

Trust Me, Its Paradise

Trust me...its paradise;

This is where the hungry come to feed,

For mine is the generation that circles the globe in search of

something that we've never tried before;

So never refuse an invitation,

Never resist the unfamiliar,

Never fail to be polite,

Never outstay your welcome.

Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience

And if it hurts, its probably worth it.

You hope and u dream

But u never believe something's gonna happen to you,

Not like it does in the movies;

And when it actually does

You expect it to feel different

More visceral, more real

I'm waiting for it to hit me...

Of course, this is not my creation... but what the heck??? Who says you can share only your creations with the world... and I am sure... every other 26 year old like me thinks the same way... So!! Well, that's not the point that I am trying to make... nowadays, I am feeling exceptionally young... since India turned 60 and is being touted as the next big thing... It indirectly directs that we, the 25-year-olds (who comprise some large chunk of this country and world's population) are the next-big thing.

And this poem epitomizes the feeling!!! Every line here... is something that I would like to tell the entire world... to the banks (to stop doubting and give loans to young people who dream of creating an empire or just travel world... if I may add at very very low interest rates), to the schools (please think beyond the textbooks... children need to learn a lot more), to the governments (for once don't think about yourself... think about the generation that will do you all proud... leave corruption... do something for the country... you are setting a wrong example)... to the parents (leave your ambitions for your children aside... god created them so that they could uncover their own capabilities)... to men (for once think of women as human beings... it's a shame you don't think her worthy... Had it not been for her... you wouldn't have been there)...

There's a lot to shout about. But the key is in keeping quiet and doing your work. Time to get back to work!!!

Mujhe neend na aaye...

I must have been 10 years old when i heard this song for the first time... but only now i can truly understand what Aamir Khan meant. Though its not love thats driving me sleepless, i am having great trouble sleeping at night.... in my case, its not Madhuri but Tauqeer and Obama. (tolly, you dont need to be insecure... you know how my mind is working these days.)

Let me tell you why am i having sleepless nights when i am thinking of Tauqeer and Obama. On Sunday night, i returned home after a great stressfree day i spent with Amul, Mayur, Arjun, Janki and Abhay (Bapu). We had our share of Gorasiya Sunday*, overeating, expensive nasto (dominoes pizza just for snacks) and a cheap dinner and having a guest appearance (Bapu) over... it was a pretty normal sunday. And all of a sudden, around 1am (early monday morning and late sunday night) i receive a call from Delhi. "We have heard that Ahmedabad and Mumbai police are involved in an encounter near Manor on the Gujarat Maharashtra Border. Please check with your sources."

And that was all i needed to get the stress back. I called up a few police officers and a journalist friend-Toral in Mumbai. While Ahmedabad Crime Branch was scattered in Delhi and Ahmedabad, the Mumbai ATS feigned ignorance over the entire matter. Toral (who by the way has amazing contacts with Mumbai Police officials) too had 'heard' about the 's0-called-ongoing-encounter' but was almost asleep when i called her at 1.15. She said that her sources claimed that Mumbai wasnt involved but rather Rajasthan and Ahmedabad Police was involved in that encounter. At the end of it all, a team comprising a reporter and a cameraman alongwith our OB van was despatched from Mumbai. You see, nobody will take a chance if its Tauqeer, even if there's no confirmation. After explaining the site location, site demography and a road direction to our Mumbai correspondent, i finally checked the news channel. None of them were even flashing the news which had taken channels into a midnight operation. Finally after speaking to delhi, toral, mumbai correspondent, surat stringer and amul... i finally fell asleep around 3.30. In the morning, Toral messaged - Mumbai ATS is laughing at our desperation. :) ha!!

So that was Sunday night... then came Monday night...

I returned around 12.30... quietly slipped into the house without waking up mom n dad. Amul and i had a yummy dinner of spinach and potato delight (a fancy name given by kalpana aunty to spinach+alu+cabbage+pudhina paratha) And after dinner, we both parked ourselves in front of the TV. Watched Bertie and Elizabeth- a documentary on George VI and his wife Elizabeth's journey from being second in heir to the throne to becoming a king... with small glimpses into Elizabeth II's upbringing and coronation lead up. And after that we saw a BIOGRAPHY on Sultan of Brunei... on History once again. It was hilarious to say the least... that Sultan has 5000 cars, calls Michael Jackson on his 50th birthday for a free concert for his population and has a gold plated palace... where during its construction the labourers had to sign before taking each piece of gold inside for engraving... :) How can one be so rich??? well, thats besides the point...

i returned and Devam called... and i was telling him about my sleepless 'neend na aaye' nights... and told him how terrorism in our country was affecting me... and he came up with his own reason of 'fear'... he tells me 'mosqa... politics ma to padaay evu j nathi...'

Devam: "In my gym, some 60 year old black americans come who exercise for 5 minutes and rest for an hour... they spend some 5 hours at gym exercising and chatting everyday. So one day in the locker room, i overheard this conversation among a group of these oldies that Obama will definitely win the elections... but soon after he is elected, he will be gunned down and a white president will replace him. Democrats will definitely win but Americans will never let a black rule the world's superpower. Its a conspiracy to make Democrats win and still not have a black president."

Now that was dreadful enough to take sleep away on Monday night. Poor Obama. God knows how many people believe or talk about this conspiracy theory... but being a target itself is unnerving... What if it actually happens? God forbid.

But while... the struggle continues for people like Tauqeer and Obama - considering they are on hitlist, my struggle with sleep too will continue. Never have such things in life bothered me ever, but say its the side effect of living an urban, informed life.

Any tips for a good, nightmare free sleep???

(After my mom's ultimatum, i am off books that i have been reading recently on Israel, Gujarat riots and chaos in afghanistan... thats my mom's solution for a nightmare free sleep.)

The idea of loneliness

I am scared of living alone. Not exactly scared. There's no danger to my life or anything. But still just the idea of spending days and days all by myself with Amul being away on his business tour is going to be very depressing. He's soon leaving for a 5 day tour which includes a weekend. And considering that i have no company other than amul in ahmedabad, its going to be pretty much difficult. I am sure, inspite of a population of 100 crores, a lot of us are lonely in one way or the other... or how would you explain the boom in the social networking sites.

People are addicted to sites like Orkut, Facebook, Myspace. I have so many friends who actually keep these sites on throughout the time they are in office, checking out their inbox every few minutes, only to feel depressed that no one's mailed them or left a message in last 10 minutes. And therefore they either start playing movie quizzes or some other online games on these sites and then prod others to do the same. And others (just as free as the sender) too indulge in these games and pass it on to others with their scores...

God!! Havent we got anything better to do?? But as one of my friend who lives down under says, 'Mos, try living alone and you will know how much these websites matter to you.' She sometimes hates the fact that Australia is ahead to the rest of the world in time and therefore has to wait till mid-noon to start receiving messages or mails from her friends in India and US. But then i had to point out to her that - 'look at the brighter side babe. Your inbox has some new fresh messages when you check them in the morning.' Coz probably US friends left messages for her when she was fast asleep.

But what sort of dependence is this? I am sure we all in one way or the other are dependent on the internet these days to fight loneliness. I keep checking out news website - just to ensure that i am not caught unawares by the delhi office. Devam keeps downloading music all the time and there's some music playing in the background all the time. I guess thats his way of dealing with loneliness. Even dad has this regular inflow of messages from his bhavnagari friends from all around the world. Forwards about how to live a content life or some quirky quotes or amazing moralistic stories. And he happily spends an hour replying and forwarding mails to his friends.

But these websites dont help kill loneliness even a wee bit. I wish i was like Amul and Mom. I can claim that this two people are totally non dependent on the internet. They are somehow always busy. They always have things to do. They always have people around them. They always have to find excuses to meet one bunch and handle the other bunch of people. And if all this is not enough, they have travel plans and even know what are they doing next month. God, only if i was so busy. Or only if i knew how to handle loneliness... for the time being, i am just waiting for Amul to come back, even before he leaves. How do you guys handle being alone???

The Terror Email

Once again it was a Saturday and around 6pm, 5 blasts shook the Indian Capital - New Delhi. And the media houses once again recieved the email from Indian Mujahideen 5 minutes before the blast. I too have a copy of that email. Yes, its terrifying to read that 13 page email. They are fearless and think they are doing the right thing by killing innocents. And one thing that's constant in their email is 'anger'. There's a quote: Anger is one word short of Danger. Perhaps, it couldnt have been more apt that this.

Some angry men in India are taking their anger out on innocents. They call themselves Indian Mujahideen. And the police like rats... are just following the pieces left behind by them with no clue, where the actual cheese is.

After every blasts, as a journalist there's a protocol to follow. I was reporting in Mumbai when 7 blasts blew off train compartments in Mumbai... I was in Ahmedabad when 16 blasts rocked the city and the trauma centre at civil hospital was targetted. Every time there's a blast - the protocol is to rush to the site... gather eye witnesses, take their sound bites, move onto record a PTC (piece to camera) or a small walk through describing the ground situation... once you are done with that... the hospitals and the police investigation comes next. Cover stories on the victims and their families or try butter up the police officials into revealing which track are they following for the investigation. Same old thing... same old method... same old words... but new victims everytime... new families are destroyed... which gives some vicarious pleasure to the attackers.

Sajid Mansuri, one of the SIMI members in Crime Branch's custody started sobbing in the metropolitan court once when he saw his wife and child. He got to hug them both and spend some couple of minutes with them before he was whisked away by the police. But his small child had no clue as to why Sajid was being handcuffed or shielded with a black cloth... what wrong had the father done?? Dont these attackers think about their families??

Another suspect, Abdul Subhan alias Tauqir, who is allegedly the technical brain behind these attacks has not kept in touch with his family since 2001. His family lives in Mira Road in Mumbai and have no clue as to his whereabouts... Wouldnt Tauqir have had even once thought about his mom and dad?? And if he's the one who has composed the email and masterminded the blasts - its not very difficult to believe that he's least interested in his family...

Some of the excerpts of the email are below: You will notice how full of anger, hatred they are... and that they are so excited... they are at such a stage that there's no turning back. I only wish to GOD - even Indian Mujahideen's Allah... if you are watching all this... please do something. Its shaking the basic core of this country. We have so many better things to do in life... than bomb and see some people get blown to pieces. I hope HE is listening.

Excerpts:

"It is not hidden from you anymore that after tasting the bitterest
of defeats by our hands at Ahmedabad and Surat, the INDIAN
MUJAHIDEEN- "the homegrown Jihadi militia of Islam" – have
once again attacked to make you face the disastrous consequences of
the injustice and oppression inflicted upon the Muslims all over the
country. With this message, we once again declare that our intense,
accurate and successive attacks like the one you will see exactly 5
minutes from now, Inshallah, will continue to punish you even
before your earlier wounds have healed. To dreadfully terrorize you
this time, by the Will and Help of Almighty Allah, we are about to
devastate your very first metropolitan center, your ‘most strategic
hindutva hub’, your ‘green zone’- yes! It’s your own capital – New
Delhi - with NINE MOST POWERFUL SERIAL BOMB BLASTS,
Inshallah, that are almost going to stop the "heart" of India from
beating."

"Taking into account all that followed after July 26, it seems that
the entire Mumbai ATS has failed to take heed from our previous
warnings and is deliberately committed to mess with us. You should
know that your acts are not at all left unnoticed; rather we are closely
keeping an eye on you and just waiting for the proper time to execute
your bloodshed. We are aware of your recent night raids at
Ansarnagar, Mograpada in Andheri and the harassment and trouble
you created there for the Muslims. You threatened to murder them
and your mischief went to such an extent that you even dared to
abuse and insult Maulana Mahmood-ul-Hasan Qasmi and even
misbehaved with the Muslim women and children there. If this is the
degree to which your arrogance has reached, and if you think that by
these stunts you can scare us, then let the INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN
warn all the people of Mumbai that whatever deadly attacks you will
face in future, the only responsible elements for it will be the Mumbai
ATS and their guardians: Vilasrao Deshmukh and R.R. Patil. You are
already on our hit-list and this time very very seriously."

"The media always uses double standards to measure terrorism.
The word 'terrorism' is never used when a story on Sangh violence is
told, no matter how large scale the violence is. The violence
unleashed by the Sangh Parivar in Gujarat was defined only as
"expression of communalism" and the same is the case with what
happens in Orissa at present. At this moment we ask you as to why
the 'Sangh terror' on all the minorities including the Muslims, Dalits
and Christians is a rarely noticed idea?
With this message, we have hereby justified as to why the
bastard Times Of India and its columnist Tarun Vijay is on our
crosshair right now and this time too we warn you that the time has
come for your breath to be arrested in our lethal claws so that you
may suffer the agonies of "psychologically" fighting us. Even if you
defend the criminals of VHP and RSS, shielding them from us, the
INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN has plenty of ways, already planned, to
make them cry for their sins, and one of which they have already
faced in the parking of LG and Civil Hospitals. So next time
whenever you are there in the hospital premises for the "blood
donation" program it is our assurance to you that we’ll be there too
for our "blood reception" program. Hence in future it is expected that
you will not be so careless!"

"The Central Congress Government which pretends to be the
well wisher of Muslim interests has always treacherously hurt them
and used them to come in power since Independence. It is this
double-faced attitude of the Congress that has secured its vote bank,
and still allowed it to silently commit one of the most heinous crimes
against the Muslim nation ever witnessed by history - the demolition
of Babri Masjid. It has failed to take heed and still continues to cheat
the Muslims under the label of "secularism". These serial bomb blasts
at Delhi are yet another intimidation to the Congress Government to
desist from agitating the Muslim sentiments anymore. Your approval
to the bills like GUJCOCA and POTA are not at all going to deter or
affect the determination of the Mujahideen
make our tasks easier for us."

"We, the INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN, ask Allah, the Almighty to
accept from us these 9 explosions, which were planned to be executed
in the holy month of Ramadan. We have carried out this attack in the
memory of two most eminent Mujahids of India: Sayyed Ahmed
Shaheed and Shah Ismail Shaheed (may Allah bestow His Mercy
upon them) who had raised the glorious banner of Jihad against the
disbelievers in this very city of Delhi. It is the great hard work and
sacrifices of these visionary legends that shall always inspire us
Inshallah to carry on the struggle and fight against the Kufr
(disbelief) till our last breath. This is the moment when the Muslims
of Delhi should once again reflect at the glorious history of our
ancestors and revive the forgotten obligation of JIHAD.
Your oppression will always be revenged Inshallah though after
years to come. Never assume that we have forgotten the demolition
of Babri Masjid and by Allah we can never forget it! It is that grave
mistake of yours which will make you taste humiliation for
generations to come. Babri Masjid was and will remain to be our
glorious self esteem and Inshallah, we will prove it to you a hornet’s
nest in which you have immersed your bare hand, unaware of the
pain to come. If you are prepared to suffer the results of this issue,
then by the will of Allah, verily! We will make you face it, and if you
feel you are wise enough, then here we announce our ultimatum:
Vacate the land of Babri as soon as you can."

And their last line is "The battle has now begun and the dust will never settle down."

I am going to meet APJ Kalam today

Former President of the Republic of India, Dr APJ Kalam is in Ahmedabad right now. He's turned lecturer and co-faculty for one of the electives of the second year for IIM Ahmedabad students. He's going to be sharing his ideas and most importantly ways as to how to implement those ideas to make India a developed country by 2020.

I love this man. He's someone who is so so respectable. One with zero arrogance.. and so much humility. On Thursday, i met Prof Anil Gupta, the co-faculty who has designed this course GRIT. He was saying that many educationist stop teaching when they reach the highest post. "They forget that they are considered good teachers and that students would love to share their ideas and wisdom with someone of such a calibre. A teacher is promoted to the post of principal, vice chancellor because of their teaching expertise. Its a sad thing that they stop teaching. Dr. Kalam has always been a teacher. And in my conversations with him, i put this idea across to him that lets start a course that will look at changing India." Thats what Prof Gupta told me.

Thats how GRIT came into being... its quite an interesting course. GRIT stands for Globalising a Resurgent India through Innovative Transformation. Its based on APJ Kalam's vision for India 2020. And quite interestingly, they will not restrict themselves to analysizing the policies. Infact at the end of the course in November, they will actually make suggestions and recommendations to the policies in the area of Water Conservation, Issues related to Women and Children, How to make our leaders more accountable, Security threat perception and solutions, Managing natural and human resources, disaster management... and so much.

Its like teaching students - how to run India? How to make sure that India one day becomes the destination for the best talent in the world - be it scientists, researchers, doctors, management graduates. Kalam wants to see India as one of the best places to explore and learn and to make it a superpower in real sense.

He's scheduled to meet the press today at 5pm. I will be right there... with my camera. I would love to meet the man. A person who has been the People's President. I will update my conversations with him once i am back. Till then... aavjo.

Remembering 9/11

Exactly seven years ago, the World Trade Centre in New York was brought down by a terrorist attack by the world's most cruelest terror group Al Qaeda. What was a moment of pride for them resulted into death of thousands of Americans who worked there. I still vividly remember that it was around 7.30 in India when the first visuals of the attack on the twin towers flashed on my tv screen. My parents were scheduled to leave for the US on the 14th. While their minds drifted from their concern about their trip to the Gujju relatives we had in the US... the impact on me was tremendous. It hit me hard. I couldnt get over the fact that two planes from nowhere came and blew up the towers... world's most recognisable landmark... where thousands of people might have clicked their pictures with the twin towers in the background... it was mind numbing. A family friend - Aditya Surti was in studying in Albany at that time. Aditya was out of his wits when he was talking to us on the phone. Perhaps the notion that Americans carried 'Nothing can happen to us in our own country' had been targetted and their faith shattered.

Days that followed revealed the magnaminity of the attack.. hijackers had trained on the american soil... it had been planned to the last detail... they had a plan, a team, and all the resources in place before they undertook this mammoth and dangerous, condemnable task to kill innocents.

However as they say that time heals everything... i soon forgot about the episode.. life moved on and today... just another day in life... i read on one of the websites of how families in the US are still coping with their loss... that how a loss of a human being is irrepairable... and towards the end of the article... all those memories and the follow up of 9/11 came flashing back to my mind.

I briefly read the book - The 9/11 Commission Report some years back when i was browsing through books... one of the chapters in the report has vivid account of what happened and when it all happened... here's an excerpt:

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
As we turn to the events of September 11, we are mindful of the unfair perspective afforded by hindsight.Nevertheless,we will try to describe what happened in the following 102 minutes:

• the 17 minutes from the crash of the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 into 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at 8:46 until the South Tower was hit
• the 56 minutes from the crash of the hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 into 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at 9:03 until the collapse of the South Tower
• the 29 minutes from the collapse of the South Tower at 9:59 until the collapse of the North Tower at 10:28
  

From 8:46 until 9:03 A.M.

At 8:46:40, the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 flew into the upper portion of the North Tower, cutting through floors 93 to 99. Evidence suggests that all three of the building stairwells became impassable from the 92nd floor up. Hundreds of civilians were killed instantly by the impact. Hundreds more remained alive but trapped. Civilians, Fire Safety Personnel, and 911 Calls North Tower. A jet fuel fireball erupted upon impact and shot down at least one bank of elevators.The fireball exploded onto numerous lower floors, including the 77th and 22nd;the West Street lobby level;and the B4 level,four stories below ground.The burning jet fuel immediately created thick,black smoke that enveloped the upper floors and roof of the North Tower.The roof of the South Tower was also engulfed in smoke because of prevailing light winds from the northwest. Within minutes, New York City 911 system was flooded with eyewitness accounts of the event. Most callers correctly identified the target of the attack. Some identified the plane as a commercial airliner. The first response came from private firms and individuals—the people and companies in the building. Everything that would happen to them during the next few minutes would turn on their circumstances and their preparedness, assisted by building personnel on-site.

Hundreds of civilians trapped on or above the 92nd floor gathered in large and small groups, primarily between the 103rd and 106th floors.A large group was reported on the 92nd floor, technically below the impact but unable to descend. Civilians were also trapped in elevators. Other civilians below the impact zone—mostly on floors in the 70s and 80s,but also on at least the 47th and 22nd floors—were either trapped or waiting for assistance.

It is unclear when the first full building evacuation order was attempted over the public-address system.The deputy fire safety director in the lobby,while immediately aware that a major incident had occurred, did not know for approximately ten minutes that a commercial jet had directly hit the building. Following protocol, he initially gave announcements to those floors that had generated computerized alarms,advising those tenants to descend to points of safety—at least two floors below the smoke or fire—and to wait there for further instructions. The deputy fire safety director has told us that he began instructing a full evacuation within about ten minutes of the explosion. But the first FDNY chiefs to arrive in the lobby were advised by the Port Authority fire safety director—who had reported to the lobby although he was no longer the designated fire safety director—that the full building evacuation announcement had been made within one minute of the building being hit.
Because of damage to building systems caused by the impact of the plane, public-address announcements were not heard in many locations.For the same reason, many civilians may have been unable to use the emergency intercom phones, as they had been advised to do in fire drills. Many called 911.

The 911 system was not equipped to handle the enormous volume of calls it received.Some callers were unable to connect with 911 operators,receiving an "all circuits busy"message. Standard operating procedure was for calls relating to fire emergencies to be transferred from 911 operators to FDNY dispatch operators in the appropriate borough (in this case, Manhattan).Transfers were often plagued by delays and were in some cases unsuccessful. Many calls were also prematurely disconnected.

The 911 operators and FDNY dispatchers had no information about either the location or the magnitude of the impact zone and were therefore unable to provide information as fundamental as whether callers were above or below the fire. Because the operators were not informed of NYPD Aviation’s determination of the impossibility of rooftop rescues from the Twin Towers on that day, they could not knowledgeably answer when callers asked whether to go up or down. In most instances, therefore, the operators and the FDNY dispatchers relied on standard operating procedures for high-rise fires—that civilians should stay low, remain where they are, and wait for emergency personnel to reach them.This advice was given to callers from the North Tower for locations both above and below the impact zone. Fire chiefs told us that the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from skyscrapers can create many new problems, especially for individuals who are disabled or in poor health. Many of the injuries after the 1993 bombing occurred during the evacuation.

Although the guidance to stay in place may seem understandable in cases of conventional high-rise fires,FDNY chiefs in the North Tower lobby determined at once that all building occupants should attempt to evacuate immediately. By 8:57, FDNY chiefs had instructed the PAPD and building personnel to evacuate the South Tower as well, because of the magnitude of the damage caused by the first plane’s impact.

These critical decisions were not conveyed to 911 operators or to FDNY dispatchers. Departing from protocol, a number of operators told callers that they could break windows, and several operators advised callers to evacuate if they could. Civilians who called the Port Authority police desk located at 5 WTC were advised to leave if they could.

Most civilians who were not obstructed from proceeding began evacuating without waiting for instructions over the intercom system. Some remained to wait for help,as advised by 911 operators.Others simply continued to work or delayed to collect personal items,but in many cases were urged to leave by others.Some PortAuthority civilian employees remained on various upper floors to help civilians who were trapped and to assist in the evacuation.
While evacuating, some civilians had trouble reaching the exits because of damage caused by the impact.Some were confused by deviations in the increasingly crowded stairwells,and impeded by doors that appeared to be locked but actually were jammed by debris or shifting that resulted from the impact of the plane.Despite these obstacles,the evacuation was relatively calm and orderly.

Within ten minutes of impact, smoke was beginning to rise to the upper floors in debilitating volumes and isolated fires were reported, although there were some pockets of refuge.Faced with insufferable heat,smoke,and fire,and with no prospect for relief, some jumped or fell from the building.

South Tower.


Many civilians in the South Tower were initially unaware of what had happened in the other tower. Some believed an incident had occurred in their building; others were aware that a major explosion had occurred on the upper floors of the North Tower. Many people decided to leave, and some were advised to do so by fire wardens. In addition, Morgan Stanley,which occupied more than 20 floors of the South Tower,evacuated its employees by the decision of company security officials.

Consistent with protocol, at 8:49 the deputy fire safety director in the South Tower told his counterpart in the North Tower that he would wait to hear from "the boss from the Fire Department or somebody" before ordering an evacuation. At about this time, an announcement over the public-address system in the South Tower stated that the incident had occurred in the other building and advised tenants,generally,that their building was safe and that they should remain on or return to their offices or floors.A statement from the deputy fire safety director informing tenants that the incident had occurred in the other building was consistent with protocol; the expanded advice did not correspond to any existing written protocol,and did not reflect any instruction known to have been given to the deputy fire safety director that day.We do not know the reason for the announcement,as both the deputy fire safety director believed to have made it and the director of fire safety for the WTC complex perished in the South Tower’s collapse. Clearly,however,the prospect of another plane hitting the second building was beyond the contemplation of anyone giving advice.According to one of the first fire chiefs to arrive,such a scenario was unimaginable,"beyond our consciousness." As a result of the announcement,many civilians remained on their floors. Others reversed their evacuation and went back up.

Similar advice was given in person by security officials in both the ground-floor lobby—where a group of 20 that had descended by the elevators was personally instructed to go back upstairs—and in the upper sky lobby,where many waited for express elevators to take them down.Security officials who gave this advice were not part of the fire safety staff.

Several South Tower occupants called the Port Authority police desk in 5 WTC. Some were advised to stand by for further instructions; others were strongly advised to leave. It is not known whether the order by the FDNY to evacuate the South Tower was received by the deputy fire safety director making announcements there.However,at approximately 9:02—less than a minute before the building was hit—an instruction over the South Tower’s public-address system advised civilians, generally, that they could begin an orderly evacuation if conditions warranted. Like the earlier advice to remain in place, it did not correspond to any prewritten emergency instruction.

Well, so in the end....

There were 2,974 fatalities, excluding the 19 hijackers: 246 on the four planes (from which there were no survivors), 2,603 in New York City in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the Pentagon. An additional 24 people remain listed as missing. All of the fatalities in the attacks were civilians except for 55 military personnel killed at the Pentagon. More than 90 countries lost citizens in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

NIST estimated that approximately 17,400 civilians were in the World Trade Center complex at the time of the attacks, while turnstile counts from the Port Authority suggest that 14,154 people were typically in the Twin Towers by 8:45 a.m. The vast majority of people below the impact zone safely evacuated the buildings, along with 18 individuals who were in the impact zone in the south tower. 1,366 people died who were at or above the floors of impact in the North Tower. According to the Commission Report, hundreds were killed instantly by the impact, while the rest were trapped and died after the tower collapsed. As many as 600 people were killed instantly or were trapped at or above the floors of impact in the South Tower.

At least 200 people jumped to their deaths from the burning towers, landing on the streets and rooftops of adjacent buildings hundreds of feet below. Some of the occupants of each tower above its point of impact made their way upward toward the roof in hope of helicopter rescue, but the roof access doors were locked. No plan existed for helicopter rescues, and on September 11, the thick smoke and intense heat would have prevented helicopters from conducting rescues.

Its been seven years. US is still to catch hold of Osama Bin Laden. But this terror attack that shook the world some seven years ago, is no more 'their' problem. The 9/11 attack is being seen as the most successful attempt by the fundamentalists... and maybe they are using it as a case study while training more men to carry out the jihad world over. Which means, its no longer just 'their' problem... we too will have to deal with it... sooner or later.

The first ride

hi.. its my first blog on my private page.. quite cool to begin with... the idea of blogging comes with a hope that it will be a huge hit one day.. maybe advertisers will pay me considering how popular my blog is and one day i will become this millionaire just by writing and will never have to go out in heat to work again. :) wishful thinking. life is completely about the unexpected and as far as being optimistic is concerned, i am all for it. Sochne mein kya jaata hain??

so lets begin.. like the movie does.. with a scroll of the leading actors... i too have some very important people in life (like everyone does). Mom (Niharika), Dad (Vipul), Sibling (Devam) and Fiance (Amul). (i hate calling amul, fiance though... i told like the titles... boyfriend, fiance and later husband... all of them suck. i call him baby.. and that sounds very very apt) so coming back to the point... these are the leading characters of the movie i call life...

these are very important people... as important as that they are on my speed dial... all four of them have a different, common ringtone assigned to their numbers so that i never ignore their calls (not that i ignore the rest of the calls... but atto jhust.. just to give them that unique status). Most of my passwords have their mention... and If i ever pray (when i somehow end up in front of an idol in pujas or family visits to temple) i pray for these four people. Sometimes i cheat and ask things for myself... but 99% its for these fantastic four.

Mom alias Mumma alias Niharika: She's the eldest in the family. :) and makes proper use of her authority. I can never afford not to listen to her or i will be reminded of my disobedience till i finally say sorry and undo what i have done (which directly translates into her victory). But she's funny to the core. If there's a funny bone in Devam and me, i am sure we have got it from her genes. She use to actively take part in fancy dress competitions right upto she cleared her college. And she always convincingly played roles of 'abhan tothiyo' (foolish student) and many more. My mom sings very well... She started with singing garba in her school and college and has continued till date... and funny enough, one of the criteria she laid before her suitors was that the guy also needs to be a singer... :) and strangely, GOD actually heard her and.... swooosshhh..... there came my father from nowhere... Mumma, as she likes to be called, is a teacher by profession. Has been working at the same place for last 27 years and though retirement is still 2 and a half years away, she's already worried about what will she do after she's got no work. Thats my quintessential mumma. Workacholic... enthusiastic... socially very very very conscious (diku, saav gaabha jeva kapda pehriya che... you cant wear this to so and so place... go change)... and inevitably, i have to go and change... she cant sit down quietly without a work for a minute (thank god, i havent got those genes... i love to relax) one sunday she gets an off, and she gets up early in the morning to go for her satsang or in absence of that mindless gathering, she will start cleaning the kitchen cabinet, not leaving a single barni to peace. And if her workacholicism is not enough to irritate me, she tells me how i havent learnt a thing from her and goes on to worry about how will i manage when i get married... :) Marriage is next thing on my mom's mind, when she's not thinking about her retirement or her friend's son's wedding or her own son's lunch and dinner excursions.. in short, marriage often comes up in our conversations nowadays at home. 'diku, ahiya sale aavyu che... taari 4 bhaare saari levaani che'. 'diku, sona na bhaav occha che, pachi mane na kehti ke main tane yaad na karavyu'. 'diku utth... dus vaagya, saasre jais pachi shu karis?'... so well, my mom somehow manages to link my every move with the future that awaits me... there's loads to write about mom. but if i dont stop now, i never will. lets move on to the next most interesting and amusing character...

Dad alias Daddy alias Vipul: If there's one word that can describe my daddy, its jovial. He's a true bhavnagari at heart. loves to exchange new jokes, make up new jokes and laugh even at times when one is suppose to behave themselves. He is an icecream lover at heart. Give him icecream and he wont even look above his bowl till he laps it up all. On a self imposed working holiday, he doesnt work full time. He takes up work when and as it comes it way. He's independent to the core in that sense. Loves to keep a tab on the real estate and the stock market though. You see he is a Gujarati. No one can take that away from a Gujarati ever - his investment brains and his love for food... essentially sweets. Dad loves to be around devam and me. I actually remember a day, some 10/12 years ago... devam and i were preparing for our exams... and right before we were to leave for school... instead of revising, devam and i were an audience to dad's stories of his college time. When we should have actually been revising our recitations and idioms, devam and i were busy listening to our dad's story of how he didnt even know that a subject/paper existed till he went to the examination hall in his college days. Such was our inspiration in those days.

To say the least, devam and i are lucky to have him. Dad never decides on our behalf... be it clothes we wanted or vehicles we wanted or careers we wanted.. and i was too eccentric from a very small age. I must have taken up 100 hobbies and left them one after the other, as they didnt amuse me after some time... and not once did my dad even sat me down to say, 'atleast give it a try'. he was happy to go alongwith whatever i felt like doing. so i left karate half way, and also kathak and a few years later... an entire diploma course in fine arts. And all along, he was only happy to know that i have some clarity at the end of it all - whether i liked it or not. I had the freedom to try and that really really matters a lot. something that devam too will vouch for.

Bro alias bhailu alias Devam: I already have a smile on my face as i set off to write about him. I think he's got the best genes of my both parents... he's good looking, jovial, cool and a darling. He wants to become a hero. Yeah, you all heard it right. He wants to set the Hindi film industry on fire and wants to attain stardom someday. I should have guessed it right when he was very young. He always wanted a big, powerful and rich surname. He wasnt happy with Acharya. He wanted something like Singhania. He always imitated and acted himself in front of the mirror and addressed himself as Dev Singhania. (gosh.. sounds like he is some prem chopra type villain's son) but yeah... he wanted big surname. He use to tell our local vadapav vendor that he is Vipul's son. He wouldnt specify that our Dad was Vipul Acharya and not Vipul Shah (director of the famous - sapna na vavetar serial)... but somehow devam always got away with a free vadapav or at the most on credit. That vadapav vendor still remembers Devam... as that famous Vipul's son. Now ofcourse, Vipul Shah has gone on to become a big big producer and director - something that Devam plans to achieve in future.

He's a cheat. He can cheat you out of your intelligence in minutes if not seconds. I would love to believe that he's innocent and straightforward but his tactics refuse to allow me that pleasure. He's so so conscious of his looks... the moment he gets up, he looks at himself in the mirror - checks out how he looks in the ruffled, out of bed morning look.. if he's happy with himself, he will continue to checking out himself for a few more minutes and if he's not happy with himself, he will spend ten extra minutes in the shower that day and ten extra minutes applying all sorts of creams on his face that night... just to ensure that he looks good and handsome at any time of the day. Thats Devam. One who was never interested in studies - would threaten to burn his textbooks the moment exams were over. One who loves to play and watch cricket - but his so called stardom getup doesnt allow him to play cricket in the noon or summers as the sweaty armpits are so not happening for a hero. One who loves to have music playing in the background always - even if it annoys mom. One who loves to eat his paneer butter masala + butter roti kadak with his a masala papad and chaas when he doesnt need to show off that he's fond of salads and non-oily food items. One who has 17 shirts of every possible black shade and one shirt which costs some 13000 rupees. One who loves reading my long long emails and give me endless advises as to what should i do with my life. Thats Devam - one you love to love and love to hate. But someone who takes the major chunk of the pie chart in the matters of heart is Mr. Amul Jani.

Tolly alias Baby alias Amul: If there was a smile when i started writing about devam... i have this huge broad smile right now... which is slowly turning into a blush as i start writing about Amul. Around 80% of the people who dwell on this planet know the lovestory. How we met over a school strike in our 12th grade - how i started visiting him on the basketball court - how he left for pune and yet kept in touch spending his precious little money - how my single annual trip to pune was even bigger than my birthday for me - how we felt so proud that we were still together despite of finishing college in two different cities - how we somehow managed to live without each other when i was away studying in london - how he made me the most luckiest woman on the planet when he came all the way to london for a month's holiday - how we grew out together from our adolescence to professionals in our respective fields and became officially engaged after being together for 8 long years...

we have been together for almost a decade now... and still discovering each other every day... like last night i discovered how he doesnt like me using his finger to clean my nose. :) when tricked with the most trickiest questions: 'Do i look fat?'... he cutely calls me 'my motu'.. hugs me and makes me feel its alright to have a few kilos more... he actually literally seen me through my thin and thick days... looking at pics which are ten years old.. we look like bachus together.. and now we are being looked upon my all as the 'couple in waiting' after his elder brother - chintan and vrushti's marriage.

Amul, Tolly and Baby have special usages. I call out to him as Amul when i want him to know that i am trying to call him since last ten minutes. I call him Amul when i am refering to him in my conversation with someone else. I call him Amul when i have to call out for him in front of people, who will otherwise think how cheesy i am being in calling him tolly. I call him Amul when he doesnt stop tickling me and his 'leaving certificate name' will come out as a final declaration meaning 'stop'.

Tolly happens in front of parents and friends... those who know he's called tolly and is a name that his friends and i share when we call out for him. Tolly is cute. Tolly refers to his 9th std stint when he went and got his head shaved because of the heat. Nowadays though he is losing hair and therefore the name stays. Tolly is pet name... or rather the cult name. Only our friends who belong to the 'IT' group call amul tolly. Some of his friends also call him jani (thats his last name) but i dont find it too romantic or personal to call him that - jani.

And Baby happens every other second. 'Baby.. goodnight' 'Baby.. what will you eat?' 'Baby.. dont drive too fast' 'We should have a house like that baby' 'Babbbbbbbbbyyyyyyy....... stop' (when we wrestling... and the tolerance level hasnt hit the roof)... so baby happens every other second... he's actually a baby...

Babies forget there's this whole world when they get food... Amul does the same. Babies do all the natak to get the attention... Amul will look at my from the corner of his eye in front of 20 people. Babies are soft, cuddly and so kissable... Amul is like that except for that one hour when he's just returned from his office in the dust capital of the world - Vatva. Babies do everything to make you smile and feel important when they bestow you with their attention and love... Amul does the same... and thats why he is my baby... a grown up baby... with all the worldly wise manners and ideologies...

You will get to know these Fantastic Four and many more in the coming days as i will continue to copy paste my experiences onto this blog... have a good day.