A Flashback - 9/11

That Tuesday morning was like any other day’s morning. Ordinary, as usual with regular workday preparation. Back then, I was working for The United Nations’ Oil-For-Food program. The program was based in Iraq but administered and monitored at the New York headquarters of the UN. For some reason, I was going to report to work a couple hours later than usual on that specific morning. So, I was taking my time to get ready, watching the news while having breakfast.

That’s when I heard it first on TV around 8:45 a.m. I couldn’t believe my ears! Then the second news came with a live broadcast a little after 9 a.m. This time, I couldn’t believe both my ears and eyes. The news reporter started running for life while on the air as one of the Twin Towers collapsed in the background in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. He was covering this horrendous act, just like the way they film in the movies.

How is this possible?.... America is under attack. I was numb, and I was dumbfounded. I frantically called up my office with panic and fear. There was this automated message that our office was closed for an indefinite period of time. We were advised to check back later in the week.

A flashback from 20 years back...September 11, 2001. Four commercial passenger planes had crashed in a series of coordinated attacks in NY, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. Almost three thousand people were killed. Office employees, students, business owners, firefighters, police, port authority personnel, bystanders, along with all passengers on board.

Our lives changed forever. Just like the pandemic. There were checkpoints in almost every key junction of lower and mid-Manhattan. Backpacks and bags were searched at major subway stations. Common people were interrogated at the police stations. All important hubs for major airliners were under tight scrutiny and checks. Flying through any airport for the next year became a nightmare. A new protocol soon became a harsh reality of our everyday life – Random Search.

New Yorkers started calling the World Trade Center site ‘Ground Zero’ where the twin towers stood once. A massive 70-foot-deep wound remained in Manhattan’s cityscape which became an integral part of remembrance and mourning immediately after the attack. It took over nine months to clear away the vast amounts of rubble that devastated the surrounding area.

Our lives were very different before 9/11. World Trade Centers 1 and 2 were the main attractions of the very famous financial district of NY. Any tourist wandering around Manhattan would make it a point to check out the charismatic Twin Towers along with the Empire State Building on their tour plan. I remember it was one of my favorite activities to take our guests from Dhaka to see this proud possession of New Yorkers. Those iconic buildings continually reminded us that NY is not only America’s but the entire world’s center of attention.

I moved out of New York two years after the incident took place. Ground Zero is no longer a place of terror, but a place of silence. Instead of the Twin Towers, now stands One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the entire nation. Next to that is the National 9/11 Memorial which stands as a tribute to the remembrance of nearly three thousand lives lost in place of the Twin Towers. It also recognizes the courage, selflessness, and perseverance of the men and women of the rescue and recovery effort. It embodies the Americans' strength, optimism, and faith in the rest of the world, as it attracts millions of tourists each year from all over the place.