Brajesh Mishra, former National Security Advisor
I received the news of terrorist attacks in the US while in talks with the visitors, led by the then Mossad chief (Ephraim Halevy) at South Block. Our first response was shock and amazement. I remember clearly that the Mossad chief saying it was a "war against America." I left the meeting to walk across to the PM's room to inform Atalji. As I spoke, he asked for the TV to be switched on.
Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood superstar
I was on an airplane flying in to New York from London. We were turned back, returning to Heathrow Airport, and could not fly out of Britain for the next four days. I came to know about the attacks when my daughter urgently called me from Delhi to find out about my well-being. She knew I had boarded a plane bound for New York City.
Arun Jaitley, Opposition Leader in the Rajya Sabha
At the time I was a Union minister. I was delivering the Ranjit Mohanty Memorial Lecture on judicial reforms in Bhubhaneswar. I got to now about the aircraft crashing into Twin Towers after I had delivered my address. After that I went to the house of parliamentarian Bijayant Panda and thereon to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's house. It was at Patnaik's house that all three of us watched 9/11 on television.
Bhaichang Bhutia, Indian football captain
I was on an American Airlines flight, on my way back to New Delhi from London. I was not too aware of what had happened in New York. But there did seem to be some sort of anxiousness on the flight, the cabin crew seemed more alert. I knew my wife was unwell but she was coming to pick me up from the airport. Upon landing, I heard the news and it was sickening. My wife was worried as I was flying the same airlines that was used toattack the Twin Towers.
Bhaichang Bhutia, Indian football captain
I was on an American Airlines flight, on my way back to New Delhi from London. I was not too aware of what had happened in New York. But there did seem to be some sort of anxiousness on the flight, the cabin crew seemed more alert. I knew my wife was unwell but she was coming to pick me up from the airport. Upon landing, I heard the news and it was sickening. My wife was worried as I was flying the same airlines that was used toattack the Twin Towers.
Peter Vrooman, US Embassy spokesperson
I hurried to a 9 am staff meeting at the US Mission to the UN in New York when I saw the first plane hit the World Trade Center. It didn't make sense. The tiny desktop television made it look like it was an accident, perhaps an errant Cessna. Then news of the second crash cut short all meetings. I tried to comfort my secretary,who was sobbing because her brother worked at the Trade Center. We were so relieved to learn that he was stuck in traffic.