story4132.xml
Title
story4132.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
I was driving to work and was stuck in traffic - cursing the car in front for not going at the required speed. The red light came on - decided to turn the radio on - it was 8.52 am. There was some news about a fire in the world trade center. I was scared - My husband works in the world trade center and I wanted to reach work as fast as I could to call him.
Reached work at 9.00 - my phone was ringing - it was my friend and she sounded worried - she asked me if I had talked to Mahesh. I was scared - I asked her what happened - she said a plane crashed into the world trade center. I told her I am going to call him and kept the phone down. Called again and again - those few minutes just dragged for eternity - till I got him on the 4th try.
I was relieved to hear him - he said he was walking to the ferry as his train was stopped at Jersey city. The cell phone was getting cut - he said he will call back.
I was relieved - went to the cafeteria to watch the news - Found a lot of people crowded - was watching the TV - people were talking about an accident - and right then another plane hit the building - I was horrified. Couldn't beleive my eyes and then the news about the pentagon being hit.
it felt so unreal - as if I was watching a movie - This can't happen in real life. I then remembered my Brother in law - he works on Wall street and walks from the World Trade center. I rushed back to call my husband - he said - he saw the second plane crash into the building with his own eyes - he was on the jersey waterfront. He was shaken too - I asked him about his brother - he said the last time he called his brother - he was in the basement of WTC.
He said would go to his friend's place who lives in Jersey City. I now called my Brother in law's wife. She said she has had no word from him yet. I was sitting there looking up all the news sites - when my friend called again - she was crying this time - One of the towers had collapsed.
I couldn't control my emotions - I was crying loudly - we had so many friends and realtives who worked there. I packed my bags and ran out of my office. I was crying through out till I reached my Brother in law's house. I had to be with family - my sister in law was more composed than I was. We kept calling everyone - no word yet about her husband, in the meantime - we called our friends - trying to account for each and everyone of them. My sister called and we cried together - out of relief that my husband was safe - out of concern for his brother and for all our friends. Crying was the only thing that we could do - everything felt out of control.
Finally we got a static filled call from my brother in law - He was in the basement when the first plane hit - they were asked to evacuate and he was walking on the Brooklyn bridge when the two towers collapsed. My sister came to their house too - She was preganant, her husband was in Atlanta - he was driving with his colleague to a meeting when the cousin of his colleague called him - He was on the building and knew that it would collapse any moment - It was his last call and he called to ask him to look after his family. It was horrible to think of that moment. She kept saying "Why am I bringing my baby into this horrible world?"
We had accounted for all our friends by now - except one - Ravi. He worked at lehman brothers. His wife was scared - she was insisting that she will go to the site to search for him. We talked to her and tried to calm her. Some of our friends went to her house for moral support. I went to pick up my kids from school - My older one was in second grade - I told him about the WTC collapse and the first thing that came out of his mouth was - "Is my father dead?". I was taken aback - I said no - he is safe and so is your uncle. He was back being a kid again. (His world was still safe)
My husband called - he was coming back in the train - I went and picked him up. a couple of hours later - my brother - in law also came home - we decided to go to the temple - to pray for all those who lost their lives and thank god for all those who were saved. Later that night - we got the message that our friend was safe - but it was not good news for his family - his cousin was on the ill fated flight from Boston which hit the WTC.
Everytime I think of that day - I feel it was a miracle to my family - My husband who is always particular about leaving on time - was delayed that day - the kids took too long to get ready and he missed his regular train. My Brother in law was in the basement - he could have been anywhere. Our friends either didn't reach on time or were reporting sick on that day. One of our friends who worked for fujitsu worked on the floor that was hit by the one of the planes - He lost his entire team - miraculously he didn't go to work that day - he was sick. One of my cousins saw a body fall in front of her as she was walking under the WTC- she ran to her office - across the towers and fainted in the lobby. She made it back home but had nightmares for a long time.
My kid's art teacher's husband owned the restaurant in the WTC. On that day - his wife insisted that he take their kid to the doctor's appt, and he obliged. So many lives - so many deaths and so many miracles.
Today - when I heard about the sudden wind which picked up as the names of the victims were being read - I felt - yes there was definitely some unknown force - some one had to be looking after all of us. Some dimension where the souls of the departed reside.
My deepest heart felt homage to the brave who sacrificed their lives to save others. If not for them - there would have been thousands more dead.
And thanks to the almighty above - maybe those who lived had more to give to the world .......
Reached work at 9.00 - my phone was ringing - it was my friend and she sounded worried - she asked me if I had talked to Mahesh. I was scared - I asked her what happened - she said a plane crashed into the world trade center. I told her I am going to call him and kept the phone down. Called again and again - those few minutes just dragged for eternity - till I got him on the 4th try.
I was relieved to hear him - he said he was walking to the ferry as his train was stopped at Jersey city. The cell phone was getting cut - he said he will call back.
I was relieved - went to the cafeteria to watch the news - Found a lot of people crowded - was watching the TV - people were talking about an accident - and right then another plane hit the building - I was horrified. Couldn't beleive my eyes and then the news about the pentagon being hit.
it felt so unreal - as if I was watching a movie - This can't happen in real life. I then remembered my Brother in law - he works on Wall street and walks from the World Trade center. I rushed back to call my husband - he said - he saw the second plane crash into the building with his own eyes - he was on the jersey waterfront. He was shaken too - I asked him about his brother - he said the last time he called his brother - he was in the basement of WTC.
He said would go to his friend's place who lives in Jersey City. I now called my Brother in law's wife. She said she has had no word from him yet. I was sitting there looking up all the news sites - when my friend called again - she was crying this time - One of the towers had collapsed.
I couldn't control my emotions - I was crying loudly - we had so many friends and realtives who worked there. I packed my bags and ran out of my office. I was crying through out till I reached my Brother in law's house. I had to be with family - my sister in law was more composed than I was. We kept calling everyone - no word yet about her husband, in the meantime - we called our friends - trying to account for each and everyone of them. My sister called and we cried together - out of relief that my husband was safe - out of concern for his brother and for all our friends. Crying was the only thing that we could do - everything felt out of control.
Finally we got a static filled call from my brother in law - He was in the basement when the first plane hit - they were asked to evacuate and he was walking on the Brooklyn bridge when the two towers collapsed. My sister came to their house too - She was preganant, her husband was in Atlanta - he was driving with his colleague to a meeting when the cousin of his colleague called him - He was on the building and knew that it would collapse any moment - It was his last call and he called to ask him to look after his family. It was horrible to think of that moment. She kept saying "Why am I bringing my baby into this horrible world?"
We had accounted for all our friends by now - except one - Ravi. He worked at lehman brothers. His wife was scared - she was insisting that she will go to the site to search for him. We talked to her and tried to calm her. Some of our friends went to her house for moral support. I went to pick up my kids from school - My older one was in second grade - I told him about the WTC collapse and the first thing that came out of his mouth was - "Is my father dead?". I was taken aback - I said no - he is safe and so is your uncle. He was back being a kid again. (His world was still safe)
My husband called - he was coming back in the train - I went and picked him up. a couple of hours later - my brother - in law also came home - we decided to go to the temple - to pray for all those who lost their lives and thank god for all those who were saved. Later that night - we got the message that our friend was safe - but it was not good news for his family - his cousin was on the ill fated flight from Boston which hit the WTC.
Everytime I think of that day - I feel it was a miracle to my family - My husband who is always particular about leaving on time - was delayed that day - the kids took too long to get ready and he missed his regular train. My Brother in law was in the basement - he could have been anywhere. Our friends either didn't reach on time or were reporting sick on that day. One of our friends who worked for fujitsu worked on the floor that was hit by the one of the planes - He lost his entire team - miraculously he didn't go to work that day - he was sick. One of my cousins saw a body fall in front of her as she was walking under the WTC- she ran to her office - across the towers and fainted in the lobby. She made it back home but had nightmares for a long time.
My kid's art teacher's husband owned the restaurant in the WTC. On that day - his wife insisted that he take their kid to the doctor's appt, and he obliged. So many lives - so many deaths and so many miracles.
Today - when I heard about the sudden wind which picked up as the names of the victims were being read - I felt - yes there was definitely some unknown force - some one had to be looking after all of us. Some dimension where the souls of the departed reside.
My deepest heart felt homage to the brave who sacrificed their lives to save others. If not for them - there would have been thousands more dead.
And thanks to the almighty above - maybe those who lived had more to give to the world .......
Collection
Citation
“story4132.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 12, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/4385.