Noida twin towers - A dusty death: Precise as a Swiss watch and cold as an execution

NOIDA: On a late August afternoon, filled with heat and an unease arising from the unfamiliar, the twin towers died a dusty death. It felt quicker than the 12 seconds on the clock. So fast that any spontaneous emotion was hard to register.
The demolition was planned over 187 days. It had the precision of a Swiss watch and the coldness of an execution. Apex and Ceyane - two eloquent monuments of brazen corruption - crumbled like a banana republic under people's pressure. They seemed to have no spine at all. The implosion caused by 3,700 kilos of explosives was relatively muffled; even the loud cheer emitted by the sparse number of spectators at the buildings' collapse, felt louder.
Dust rose like a thick brown cloud after their fall. For a minute or more, it enveloped the area, banishing every other nearby building from sight. There seemed a possibility that much like the sinister mist of 'The 13th Warrior', the 1999 Hollywood film, the dust would blanket the area. But the picture improved faster than one thought. And when it did, one saw that the place previously occupied by the twin towers was replaced by a gaping void created by state-of-the-art "waterfall" demolition technique. It was just gone.
Few, if any, will mourn their passing. Bhagwan Das, who works as a driver and belongs to Bihar's Madhubani district, enjoyed watching the moment live. "This will be a lesson for builders," he said.
Like him, many other onlookers had come from nearby sectors. An overwhelming majority belonged to the working-class - people who build multi-storeys but cannot afford to live in them. Many of the moneyed people, who live in highrises that the area abounds in, watched it from the safety of their shaded balconies, probably with a celebratory drink in hand. Irrespective of class, this was a selfie and a short filmmaking moment for all.
Vijay Kumar Das is a mason by profession and belongs to Bihar's Begusarai district. He has been building apartments in Bangalore and Noida for the past 12 years. Curiosity brought him to Jaypee Flyover which offered a vantage view of the demolition. "Building a home takes years. I have come to see how quickly it can be demolished," he said.
A couple journeyed about 30 kilometres from adjacent Ghaziabad district. Amar Singh runs a tea shop and he gave his wife Rekha Devi a helping hand to climb over a railing to get a close view of the spectacle. This was the best Sunday entertainment they could think of. "We have heard so much about it on television in the past few days," Singh said.
Jaypee Flyover, located between Sector 93 and Sector 128, was the allotted space for journalists. Over 100 strategically placed tripods and a couple of Jimmy Jibs were at work through the day. So were the YouTubers in action. Every moment was milked.
The administration looked suitably prepared to meet any eventualities. A huge van housed the Incident Command Centre, which was positioned at the centre of the flyover. An animal ambulance scouted for strays as they had in the past few days. Ambulances and fire-engines were present in substantial numbers. Thankfully, they stayed silent. Only the water sprinklers had some work to do through the evening.