Posted Sep 20 2001 (a week after the WTC crash)
Yo gang !!.
On the morning of 09/11 my colleagues and I were huddled around in a meeting when the news of the crash reached us. It hit me a li'l bit closer to home.... coz my brother just flew to NYC for a product launch in downtown Manhattan (a few blocks from the WTC). It so happened that he decided to stay near the airport instead of the original plan of staying in the World Trade Center. Phew!!!That was close!!!. So I couldn't quite refrain myself from commenting on the tragic events of 09/11.
To say the least, these are tough times. As I sat down this weekend glued to the TV flipping through channels, to see this extraordinary story unravel, there was one program that caught my eye. ABC's Peter Jennings sat down with a bunch of teenagers and kids to view these events through their minds and eyes. Their perspective was awesome.... and uplifting to the spirit, which is what we all need in times like these. So if they air it again, be sure to watch it. I vividly remember the day I took my parents to visit the World Trade Center last year. An engineering marvel, the very symbol of capitalism built to define the skyline of American economy and pride...... all gone within minutes!!!. That’s when it hit me that the view from Ellis Island will never be the same again. Then came the inevitable crash of the twin indices DOW and NASDAQ. As despair gave way to anger, which in turn gave way to market economics on Wednesday.... we seem to be caught in a whirlwind of emotions. I for one believe that the troops in this war are not just the ones who were dispatched today to the persian gulf, but the millions of us who are still trying to fathom the impact to our worlds. The irony here is stark and is not lost on me. Just as how the WTC was a physical structure symbolizing freedom and economic prosperity, Bin Ladan is just a physical manifestation of the concept of terror!!!. So "getting him" would help soothe revenge seeking hearts but does not solve the problem in it's entirity. The only way we can win this war is, if each one of us would decide to lead our lives as we did before the 10th of this month and refuse to let a few mad men intimidate us.
So what better time for us to plan a re-union. Yup a couple of weekends before a few of us Mandyans were over at Myrtle Beach, SC (which by the way was coooooooooool trip... but I’ll save that for another day). As we were reminiscing of the gala days we had at Mandya, we realized that the 5 year anniversary of our batch is coming up this month!!. Sarath (the compsci guy from Chennai) who is now a student over at Columbia, SC is tasked with organ rising this whole event. (And Sarath this is a test to see if you are enterprising enuf for corporate America!!).
I think the plan is to meet sometime during Thanksgiving, prolly in Orlando, FL or Las Vegas. For one, I’m sure we’ll get great deals on air fares and hotels.. etc., Secondly we will be fulfilling our obligations to the economy!!!!. So this is a heads up folks. You better have a damn good reason (such as... you lost a leg or you went blind) if you are going to miss this event. Awrighty then folks it’s y’alls move.
Be sure to check back here for details on the re-union.
