It's been 25 years since 9/11; a horrific and senseless act that permanently split the world into a before-n-after timeline. An act so unimaginable and unforeseeable that it’s left an indelible mark on the human psyche, whether they be living anywhere on the planet, or here in Bangkok; a seemingly safe distance from where this heinous saga was unfolding in real-time. But because of the catastrophic consequences, most everyone, wherever they were, remembers, almost to the moment, what it was they were in the middle of; the mundane everyday routine, that the horrifying images on CNN interrupted.
- I was putting my children to bed.
- We were celebrating my parents-in-law’s 50th anniversary at Chuan Kitchen, a restaurant in Mueang Thong Thani. There was a heavy thunderstorm outside. Then we heard the news, the joy and laughter, turned into disbelief; that this only happens in comic books.
- I was coming out of the theatre after watching a Thai movie with a friend.
- My husband and I were getting ready to go to a friend's birthday; the TV was on and we were horrified to witness a plane crashing into the first tower. We rushed to the friend’s house and switched on the news. Then together, we watched the second aircraft flying straight into the second tower. It was surreal–like witnessing a scene from a film.
- I only remember that my husband, despite my worries, went ahead with his Europe trip the next day.
- We were all having dinner with the TV on, and saw the plane crashing into the World Trade Center and panicked. I have a niece living in New York who experienced the commotion and the shouting when she stepped out of the train to go to work in that very area. A relative on my dad’s side died there and also, someone close to us, lost her son.
- I was in Hat Yai on a regular business trip and was stunned to see such an incident happen during my lifetime.
- We were heading out for our wedding anniversary dinner and I chanced to turn on CNN and thought the scenes were from a movie. My husband said, "No, this is happening in real time, in New York.” We went ahead with the dinner, but it was impossible to forget the moment that would change the world forever.
- I was at a reception, when the chatter suddenly became weird, and people started gathering and many proceeded to leave; it was the parents of those children studying in America.
- Seeing the news on CNN, we tried to get in touch with my brother-in-law who was travelling to the States and then went to the airport to stop him. Fortunately, all flights had already been suspended. My son was also studying in America then.
- The family was celebrating my husband’s birthday at home in front of the TV, continuously flashing the shocking images; the fun and laughter turned into solemness.
- I was in the kitchen cleaning up dishes.
- I was watching CNN and saw it happen real-time. I panicked and tried desperately to reach my daughter who was celebrating her birthday in the same area of New York. Eventually my son, who was in Boston, managed to contact her.
- I saw it during lunch, in my university years. I was shocked and in disbelief. Though, at my age, then, it didn’t seem earth shattering. I was too young to understand.
- I remember vividly like it was yesterday. I was massaging my first-born, then only four-months-old; getting him ready for his bath.
- I was in my office with my fellow sewadars, working on the edits on Sar Bachan, (Radha Soami publication).
- By the time I heard the news and in varied versions, in God-forsaken, Rourkela, Orissa, it kinda had dialed down and seemed less shocking. Although, one wonders the extent of unfortunate deaths.
- As soon as my daughter-in-law and I alighted from our flight home in the U.S., we saw the airport swarming with heavily armed military personnel. Immediately, I knew something was very wrong, and wanted to get out and reach home fast. Nevertheless, I couldn’t sleep a wink and spent the night watching CNN.