OSAMA THROUGH MY EYES-2001 VS 2011

        I was still in the jaws of sleep when my body has entered the virtual world of facebook but my fingers stop exercising and eyes opened wider than Suez Canal, encountering the status-“Osama is dead congrats”. My heart was in dilemma-to be happy or not to be. The identity that was hammered in my mind a decade ago cannot dissolve so easily. I begged Google for the news and to my horror the dead face of Osama with injury on forehead flashed before me. The star of 9-11 finally reached his destination in 2-5-11.but he has left a chronic impact and memory.

             I delve into memories to reach 2001 when the name Osama bin laden was inscribed in my brain of 11 years. I feebly remember I was in classroom when we were summoned out to assemble. Our principal told us to bow our head and pray for a minute. A one day holiday carried us in the land of joy and we were in no mood to discover the cause. But In the hostel some of the words like world trade centre, Osama bin laden, al-Qaida were crawling in the air. That was the first time my ears were pierced by the name Osama bin laden. I faintly recall there was a fight between Washim and Mr. X in the hostel and that news was hotter than world trade centre. So that was the day, so called 9-11 for me. The dearth of emotion at that time gave me no pain but now those videos of attack send goose bumps through my body.

    After that, every year on this day we moan for a minute. As the time passed on, I could decipher Osama and 9-11 .Many newspaper, magazines and documentaries revealed the entire conspiracy as well as Osama to me. The way he planned, the guts he had, was a work of excellence, a genius but that genius was a baddy, heading in reverse

Direction.   

             The name Osama Bin Laden became a new vocabulary used in every language. This name was often used in movies, serials and most important in our day to day talks. This name was and is used to create joke, create fear, respect and so many thing. For e.g. I said my friend I am not goanna leave u. He replied-“tu laden ki aulad hai jo mai tujhse darr jau” (are you laden’s son that I shall get scared of you) .The word Osama bin laden has become a synonyms for terrorism.

       In the quest to know people’s view on Osama I began to fish my friend’s thought with bait being the question-“what do you personally feel about Osama?”people are ambivalent towards him and some of the answer hooked were- “great man, good man, both good and bad, terrorist, 9-11, many wives and children, religious person, a man with beard and turban, courageous, a person who stringed America, brilliant, knowledgeable person, popular, world famous, negative, doesn’t look like terrorist...”

     There would be many souls in the world with different views regarding him but no doubt he was the epitome of terrorism. The time never paused, it wriggles   from 2001 to 2011 but there are many bitter memories, many wounds and pain which can never be healed. Even though the person has extinct but his atrocity of 9-11 will never diminish.

Anuj kumar shah