The Traditions apartment complex is prominently located along an emerging stretch of realestate in Edison, New Jersey. They’re not really apartments but closely-packedtownhouses, identical and bearing fresh coats of yellow paint. Outside, satellite disheswith the words "Dish Network" emblazoned upon them announce this as a communityof successful Indian immigrants, all wired in to Zee Gold, TV Asia, et al.
Rajesh Khandelwal and his wife Shweta purchased their home here on August 10 last year,a month and a day before the towers fell. The cream carpets are still immaculate. It wason this carpet that their child, Sivam, now 20-months-old, would sit waiting for hisfather to come through the door.
But his father never came back. And Shweta now lives here with Rajesh’s parentsand Sivam. An enormous TV dominates the living room. On top of that rests a vcr, a dvdplayer and a music system, as well as a heart-shaped frame with a photo of Shweta andRajesh. The entertainment system was just the beginning—Rajesh wanted to turn hisliving room into a home theatre. "He did everything—chose the furniture, put upthe curtains," says his father, Ramesh, gesturing around the living room.
Rajesh and Shweta had their initial doubts about the house, but once told the vaastuwas excellent, they closed on it. He had joined Marsh McLennan three years earlier."From the age of three on, he never made a mistake—he was a most disciplinedboy," says Ramesh, an astrologer. "Astrologically, he was very sound. Forty percent of his stars were the same as Lord Krishna’s."
As the rescue operations went under way, the Khandelwals constantly receivedencouragement from astrologers and relatives in India, many of whom were sure Rajesh wasfine. They told the family to look for him in the south, "but there was no way for usto convey that to the rescue team," says cousin Rekha, as Shweta sits silently."When we saw Ground Zero, we thought, ‘How could anyone survivethis?’."
The family considered returning to India, but ultimately decided that the best way tohonour Rajesh’s memory and his wishes was to stay behind. It could also ensure thebest possible education for Sivam.
Sivam is, in many ways, just like his father. He too refuses to take his shoes off, heis quiet, orderly by nature. The one exception, perhaps, is his obsession for fruit."His dad never ate fruits," observes Shweta, as Sivam climbs off the sofa, hopsback to it, clambers over his mother’s back and onto his grandmother’s lap, allthe while firmly clutching a thick wedge of dried pineapple.
