That was morning of 23 June, 2000.We had taken a ferry from Battery Park on the south tip of Manhatten in NewYork to Ellis Island.After braving up the long queues and climbing a cork-screw narrow staircase to the top, upto the crown of the 'Statue of Liberty',we 'spiraled' down and got out for a breather at the pedestal level platform of the statue.But we were left more breathless by the breathtaking views of New York skyline, from that altitude with the perfect angle, especially on that clear and sunny day.After having shot many panoramic frames with my Minolta XG-2, now a vintage analogue SLR camera,I changed to '70-300 Sigma tele lens, much to the annoyance of my wife, Namita.[We were already late, and far behind our planned schedule]. I took this particular picture, standing some 30 ft away from our set of twins-Shamol & Shanil and zoomed in to bring closer those 5 miles away Twin Towers and fitted them within the frame. I never knew that this will turn into one of my 'most published'photographs. 
After almost one year, 9/11 disaster happened. At that time,I wanted to mount this picture, now a historical one,in my hospital, and was playing with the words to form a catchy caption . Interestingly,this excercise ended in this set of quartets and the poetic pledge took shape.Incidentally this picture with the poem got published in Times of India,Ahmedabad on 19 Sept.2001,by one of my photographer friends.[Of course,a small print of that poem was pinned on my hospital board for quite a while.The big poster of 4x6 ft.size of "Twins' Pledge"still hangs in Loyola High School,even after 7-8 years of the incidence.Quite out of a blue!]
After almost one year, 9/11 disaster happened. At that time,I wanted to mount this picture, now a historical one,in my hospital, and was playing with the words to form a catchy caption . Interestingly,this excercise ended in this set of quartets and the poetic pledge took shape.Incidentally this picture with the poem got published in Times of India,Ahmedabad on 19 Sept.2001,by one of my photographer friends.[Of course,a small print of that poem was pinned on my hospital board for quite a while.The big poster of 4x6 ft.size of "Twins' Pledge"still hangs in Loyola High School,even after 7-8 years of the incidence.Quite out of a blue!]
