
Alexa,Tell a bedtime story.Lakshmi, in her fifties, ordered Alexa to help 4-year-old Siddharth fall asleep and lay down on the mattress with him. Alexa too obeyed Lakshmi’s order like Allauddin’s lamp and started telling the story.
Once upon a time, a prince named Siddhartha was born in the city of Lumbini in Nepal. When Siddhartha came to hear the name, Siddhartha, who was sleeping near Lakshmi, opened his eyes again and said, “Granny, granny, she said Siddhartha is a prince, did she call me a prince?” Siddhartha was happy to be mentioned as a prince, his happiness was visible on the face of the sleeping Siddhartha. Seeing him, Lakshmi said in her heart, God, let Siddhartha live happily like a prince.
Alexa’s storytelling continues. At the time of Siddhartha’s birth, a sage said that when he grew up he would become a great ascetic, so the king banished the poor, the elderly, the disabled, from his kingdom from that very day. A shield was made around the prince, away from the distress, so that no sad, human being would come before the prince, so that he would not know what suffering is. The prince also grew up in this shell. He grew up under the illusion that this is the world and that it is very beautiful.
Hearing this description, Lakshmi’s memories of 25 years ago were awakened. A character who meets that prince in the story meets Lakshmi 25 years ago. That character’s name was….”Captain Rizwan Ahmed” ! Like that prince, who grew up in a cell where there was no such thing as misery, hardship, poverty, and ‘terrorism’. Such a shell was named– New York, America!

“Captain Rizwan Ahmed” in this city was also like a fairy tale prince. Over 6 feet tall with six pack abs. Fair complexion, blue eyes, blonde hair. Typical American attire, when he said his name it was revealed that he was a Muslim. He and I met for the first time in India. He was a trainer during a training while working in Air Traffic Control.He was giving a lecture but it was difficult to concentrate on it and it was getting sad as I myself was married at that time and a mother of a 4 year old daughter, Siddharth’s mother. And he also had a wife and a 2-year-old son. However after 8 days of training passed the exam with good marks and was sent to US by ATC for next one month training. My husband Swapneel and daughter Rajshree were also taken along with the free ticket as I have been in the airline.Swapnil had bought the latest model of Handycam that came in the market at that time.
After going to New York, Rizwan’s family was also introduced. at Newark, New Jersey Airport Local time – 07:45 A .M on 11th September 2001. Rizwan had brought them in his car.
First a person got out of the car Lakshmi went near him and said,”Hello, Mr. Rizwan”.
“Yes,”said the person.
Lakshmi was totally confused when she saw that person. Because the man in front looked like Rizwan but was much older.
“Oh, sorry, I thought that you are Mr. Rizwan,”Lakshmi said confused.
“Yes I am Rizwan,”He replied.
Just then Rizwan came out from the driver’s seat and stood beside him and said,”Hi, Lux,meet my father Mr. Rizwan”.
“Aa?Is your father’s name also Rizwan?”Lakshmi said confused again.
Just then, two women and a small 2-year-old boy came out of the car. Rizwan called them and introduced them,”This is my mother, and this is my wife, and this one is my son Altaf.“
“Glad to meet you,”Lakshmi said folding her hands.
“All of my family members are on their way to San Francisco on the 8:42a.m. United93 flight right now for a wedding. I’m going tomorrow.Now I am here to drop them all to the airport. Where are you going now?“Rizwan asked Lakshmi.
“I’m going to the time square now.My husband and daughter are there,”Lakshmi
“Ok then sit in my car and I will leave you at the time square. And meet your family too,”Rizwan opened the car door and said to Lakshmi.
“But one day the prince got tired of this life in the palace. And he ordered a charioteer to take his chariot out of the palace. And he was faced with a series of sorrows!”
This sentence from Alexa’s record brought Lakshmi to her senses for a while. She first went to Siddharth who was sleeping soundly on the side. Alexa’s record continued. Lakshmi used to order Alexa to stop the record every day when Siddharth was asleep. But what Alex was saying today took her back to the past.
A series of sorrows began on September 11, 2001, from 9 am, in front of American citizens who, like prince Siddharth Gautam, did not know what unhappiness was. Swapneel had bought a new camera and never thought that something like this would be filmed in it. Terrorism had invaded the happy shell of New York.
After sitting in the car, while going to Time Square, Lakshmi asked Rizwan on the way“How come you and your father have the same name?”
“What is so special about it? This is very common here in America,“Rizwan said.
“But doesn’t this cause problem ?Then how do you know if you want to contact ?”Lakshmi
“Here in America they call me Junior. You also call me by the same name,”Rizwan
“O.K. Mr. Junior,”Lakshmi said with a smile,”Funny”.
Just then Captain Junior Saheb’s attention went to a plane flying in the sky. And said, “This is an American Airlines Boeing 767. This flight is going from Boston to Los Angeles. How about this route?”
“Yes you are right,” said Lakshmi looking at the plane, “I will call ATC and ask now.” But just then their car reached near World Trend Center where work was going on on a road and Swapneel and daughter Rajshree were seen beside him.On seeing them, Lakshmi disconnected the phone and asked Junior to stop the car, “Look, there is my husband and daughter.” Lakshmi got out of the car and went to Swapneel, while Swapneel was so busy shooting with the handycam that he noticed Lakshmi approaching but not. Junior also parked the car and came to them. Lakshmi slaps Swapnil on the head. Swapneel turned around and saw Lakshmi and Junior standing beside him. Lakshmi takes Rajshree on her shoulders and introduces Swapneel to Junior. Junior also shook hands with Swapneel and took Rajshree’s hand and gave her chocolate. Swapnil started shooting again.
Just then, the Boeing 767 of American Airlines, which Junior and Lakshmi had seen earlier, crashed the World Trade Center building with a loud noise.
All this was captured in Swapnil’s camera. Everyone was stunned on seeing this incident.
“Oh shit, what’s this? This plane went straight into the building.” Swapnil opened his mouth for the first time. “Is this a new technique of plane landing in America? The plane enters the direct office to pick up the passenger.”
What happened at the World Trade Center on 9/11?
The hijacked Flight 11 was crashed into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower (1 WTC) at 8:46 a.m. The hijacked Flight 175 struck floors 77 to 85 of the South Tower (2 WTC) 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m. When the towers were struck, between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the WTC complex. Of those, the vast majority evacuated safely. As they rushed out, first responders rushed in trying to save those still trapped or injured.
The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel. They weakened the steel support trusses, which attached each of the floors to the buildings’ exterior walls. Along with the initial damage to the buildings’ structural columns, this ultimately caused both towers to collapse. The five other buildings in the WTC complex were also destroyed because of damage sustained when the Twin Towers fell.
The collapse of the buildings left the site devastated. Thousands of volunteers came to Ground Zero to help with the rescue, recovery, and clean-up efforts, and on May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed
What was the World Trade Center?
The World Trade Center (WTC) was a 16-acre commercial complex in lower Manhattan that contained seven buildings, a large plaza, and an underground shopping mall that connected six of the buildings. The centerpieces of the complex were the Twin Towers. On September 11, 2001, the entire complex was destroyed in a terrorist attack that has come to be referred to as “9/11.”
What is Islam?
Islam is the world’s second-largest religion. An adherent of Islam is a Muslim. Islam’s beliefs and practices center around two key sources: the Qur’an and the Hadith. The Qur’an contains what Muslims believe is God’s final revelation, made to the Prophet Muhammad, Islam’s founder, more than 1,400 years ago. The Hadith is a collection of Muhammad’s sayings and deeds during his life.
Lakshmi slapped Swapneel’s hand and said, “There was a big accident here and what are you doing comedy.”
“Not a comedy, but how did this happen? Did the plane malfunction or did the accident happen?” Swapnil said continuing shooting.
“Call ATC office” Junior ordered Lakshmi.
Lakshmi calls A T C but even there the phone just rings.
“If the plane enters the middle of the tower, only the top floor will be damaged. All the floors below will be safe.” Swapnil said continuing shooting.
“What nonsense! 244 iron bars are used on each floor of this tower.
Iron has temperature limits. When the temperature rises above 550, iron starts to melt.And the planes that crashed were Boeing 767-800s, burning fuel inside increases the temperature inside. After a while this building will completely collapse.” Rizwan (junior) was speaking with fear.
“Great, you are really a top pilot. That’s why you gave all these details.” Swapnil.
Just as this conversation between Junior and Swapneel was going on, at 9:16 a plane of United Airlines Flight No. 175 crashed on other Tower.

Hearing the same deafening sound again and the sound of people screaming, 4 year old Rajshree on Lakshmi’s shoulder started crying loudly and Lakshmi also went and grabbed Swapneel.
Swapneel caught both of them with one hand and continued shooting with the other hand said, “Another plane entered the second tower so surely someone must have done this attack knowingly”.
Junior said to Laxmi, “Lux, did you get any information from A T C?”
Lakshmi, “No, no one is picking this phone. I will call Harriet’s mobile right now. She is on duty in A T C. Maybe she can say something.”
That’s when C N N , B B C and some other new channels got there. They were telling the news. One of their news reports revealed that a third plane had crashed into the Pentagon at 9:45 p.m.
At the same time Junior’s mobile phone rang, “Daddy……! Where are you?”
“Our plane has been hijacked.” Rizwan (Junior’s father)
“What……! Your plane was hijacked too?” Jr
Hearing Junior’s speech, Lakshmi and Swapneel’s attention was drawn there.
Just then Lakshmi got a call from Harriet and she went aside and started talking.
Here Junior’s father spoke on the phone, “Those guys have gone into the cockpit and we don’t know where they are taking us.”
Then Lakshmi ended her conversation with Harriet and approached Junior and said, “Junior, Harriet just said that ATC has ordered every plane flying into US territory to land at the nearest airport.”
Hearing this, Junior spoke to his father on the phone, “Dad, A T C has asked all planes to land at the nearest airport. May be your plane is also landing at the nearest airport.”
“Our plane has been hijacked and are these hijackers going to listen to ATC?” Rizwan said over the phone. Just then, Rizwan’s mother picked up the phone and said, “These people are suicidal attackers. There has been an explosion in the plane.”
Junior, “Mom, here are planes crashing into buildings one by one. Right now 2 planes have crashed into the World Trend Center and the third plane has crashed into the Pentagon.”
Just then at ten o’clock in the morning, the South Tower began to collapse, and Junior was confused by the sound of people screaming. As the tower collapsed, a cloud of smoke spread across Manhattan Island.
To avoid cloud of smoke, Junior sat in his own car. Lakshmi was talking on the phone carrying 4 year old Rajshree on her shoulder. Then Swapnil’s shooting continued, seeing the smoke coming, he first hugged Lakshmi and Rajshree with both hands and took them safely to the basement of a building.


After sitting in the car, the outside noise and smoke stopped. Junior again started talking to his father on the phone, “Dad, here the south tower of WTC has collapsed. Dad, those who have hijacked the plane are very dangerous. All your lives are in danger. You have to face it with courage. Only then can you save yourself and my family.” You have to try to get into the cockpit. Then I’ll tell you what to do there. Please, dad, that’s all you have to do.”
“Ok I will see,” said these four words Rizwan to Junior over the phone but then a loud explosion came over the phone followed by 2/3 minutes of people shouting and then everything went silent.
https://youtu.be/St7ny38gLp4?si=M8yo0x7f1Iuesybs
Junior was shouting dad, dad on the phone but to no avail. He realized that this plane, like the other three planes, must have crashed into some building. Junior sat motionless for some time as he looked out the window of the car. At exactly 10:29, the North Tower of WTC collapsed and the debris started spreading, but this time Junior opened the car door and stood outside as the debris hit him, he fell unconscious like the tower!
After seeing the series of sorrows like this, the prince realized that what am I doing? Just eating, enjoying, all the useless things! And there was a struggle and restlessness in his mind. And once, without telling anyone, in the middle of the night, like a thief, the prince left the palace and left all the pleasures forever…..
The first part of Lakshmi’s memories ends with this story. The memory files of her stay in America in September 2001 were clicking in Lakshmi’s brain in the same way for some reason in the past 25 years. That file of memories was never deleted. After a gap of at most 2 days, the episode started by clicking the file of those memories.
First half
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