Overall US is a safe place... I dont feel the fear while walking outside... or while walking on the road or even taking the Metro.... I am confident that if I get into trouble I will always have some public service personnel to help me.... in fact quite often I find policemen on every corner and they are always ready to lend a helping hand....

But on the other hand I also feel scared quite often in the States... for instance the other day my friend and I had gone to the Lincoln Memorial at night .... and there was a plane above us flying really low.... I am not sure what happened but my friend (who is American) immediately clutched my hand and watched the plane intently..... and whispered to me "why is that plan flying so low?"... I didnt respond... after a while my friend turned tome and said "Lets get out of here fast"....

The plane was flying low only because it was trying to land at the Washington National Airport.... but the events of September 11th had so traumatised my friend that she was now scared of any plane that was flying low.... the fear would surface anytime there would be anything untoward in the sky.... The fear that America could be under attack anytime....

Compared to that, despite the Mumbai attacks I dont fear going to the Taj or any of those places where the terrorists attacked Mumbai... I almost adopt a fatalistic attitude - if I have to die I will die.... and walk on by as if nothing has happened.... Is it a belief that everything in India is saved by God and not by the administration? So if God chooses to save you, you will be saved....so if you happen to be caught in a terrorist attack then you are just plain unlucky... Is that how Indians view the terrorist attacks?

Personally speaking I get scared sometimes in Washington ... thinking an attack is imminent....Or maybe it is the effect of the Hollywood movies..... you know movies where everything happens first in the United States.... so if the aliens attack, they first attack Washington, DC like they showed in Independence Day.... or the end of the world begins in the United States like in the movie "2012".... and natives in each country are left praying for divine intervention in front of the "religious" structures such as the Taj Mahal....

I better be careful walking around... or I better stop watching doomsday movies