9/11 five years on

9/11 - these numbers will be etched in people's minds for many years to come, especially those who have lost loved ones - friends, relatives, colleagues - and acquaintances in this heinous destruction of the World Trade Center Buildings in New York and the Pentagon. Today is the 5th anniversary of that day when Muslim Terrorists rammed their 747 jets into buildings that they considered icons of American capitalism and imperialism. More than 3,000 innocent lives were sacrificed for their beliefs, and many more have been psychologicallly scarred ever since.

On 9/11 five years ago, I had just woken in the morning to prepare for work. My mother, who was then living with me, was coming out of the kitchen. The TV was switched on to CNN, as it was every morning. It was (re)playing the scenes of a Boeing 747 ramming into one tower of the WTC, with another close behind and headed for the second tower. In a matter of minutes after the second jet crashed into the second tower, both buildings just collapsed downwards like a stack of cards - they just disappeared. Such were the scenes that CNN and many other TV stations played over and over again that entire day. I was astounded. Reporters near ground zero were in tears as they recounted the incidents of the day. I was close to tears myself as I watched, in spite of my being half a world away in the safety and comfort of my home.

Apparently, many still believe in the cause of 9/11 today. And it doesn't look like these people will soon fade away. The worst thing is that these people claim to stand up for one of the most influential religions in the world today - Islam. Fairly or unfairly, Islam itself is today tainted, perhaps forever linked to the innocent slaughter of thousands of people who were just going about life, earning a decent day's wages. This perception remains today, even in my mind, because Muslims have not all stood unequivocally to disassociate itself from these murderous acts. I am not sure even today if my Muslim colleague is not a closet terrorist sympathiser although I continue to work with them amicably and with due respect everyday.

Such is my pysche scarred and affected even till today.