Run to the Noise
I meant to make this first post before I left but there were pressing things to do. Now that I'm here I can waste some of the hottest part of the day here in my room with the A/C on.
In 2001 I was working frequently in New York City. I was on a New Jersey train heading into the city on the morning of 9/11 when I began to notice people talking seriously into their cell phones while the conductors huddled up in one of the vestibules to confer. Within a few moments I learned that an aircraft had struck a World Trade Center tower from an overheard cell phone conversation.
My first thought was of the Army Air Corps B-25 that had struck the Empire State Building in 1944. At that point terrorism hadn't even entered my mind.
We continued toward the city and then another wave of cell phone conversations and murmers broke out. Immediately afterward the conductor announced on the IC that the second tower had been struck and that it was clearly a case of terrorism. Minutes later we pulled into Elizabeth station where I hopped off the train and grabbed the first train heading the other direction.
During the weeks that followed I spent considerable time in NYC and, when the wind was right, the entire city smelled like burnt electrical insulation. I was never in any danger during or after the attacks, but still I was greatly affected by them. I had never experienced the kind of anxiety I felt then every time a news flash of some kind or another came on the news. Eventually I had to unsubscribe from news feeds on my blackberry because each time it buzzed for one I felt my stress level peaking.
One thing that really stood out in a positive way during that time was outpouring of support from around the world. It's difficult to imagine it now, but during the period immediately after the attacks much of the world sent its condolences and reached out a friendly hand.
My mind returned to these thoughts as I followed the news of the recent attacks in Mumbai. 26/11 figured to be to Mumbai what 9/11 was to New York - at least as representative of foreign terrorismn (the riots of '93 won't be easily replaced as the defining cataclysm). In any case, the second to last paragraph call to actoin in Op-Ed Contributor- What They Hate About Mumbai is what instigated my being in Mumbai. I kept re-reading that piece and found myself compelled to go.
The goal of the trip, if there is something as concrete as a goal, is to simply connect with people to offer some of the support I felt from around the world after 9/11. I want to meet Mumbaikars, make human connections, and make pictures with the idea that I might do a show called New Year in Mumbai, or perhaps stealing an idea from Mehta's Op Ed piece Run to the Noise.
The odd thing is that, now that I'm here, I'm not completely sure that the premise of the trip makes sense. Excepting some occasional evidence to the contrary, I suspect the attacks are more on my mind than they are on the minds of Mumbaikars. Everything seems quite ordinary and when asked about the attacks, cab drivers, hotel staff, and people on the street have all said the same thing, "No problem. Back to normal in four days."
