Of Peace n War

Man has evolved from being a primitive Neanderthal to the contemporary Homo Sapien over a long period of time. A period long enough for him to have realized his mistakes and redeem himself as the most sophisticated social animal to have ever graced the surface of the earth. During the very beginning, man wandered about aimlessly and often solitarily. His main interests were to hunt for his “Meal of the Day” and crash for the rest of the day. As years passed, he realized the need to hunt in groups, the need to socialize and the need to create a niche for himself. And, here we are in today’s world where Social Networking takes the cake in cyber-space. There are about a million Websites and a zillion Tools all striving to get you connected and socially networked. If you just had access to a PC or even a mobile that can get you on the internet, you can be rest assured that you will find your relatives, girlfriends, boyfriends, Ex’s, friends and foes even but never will you find yourself alone.

All through the ages, if you would have noticed, the reason to be together as one unit has been fuelled by the sole desire to survive, to persist, to live on and overcome the fear of being a mortal and dying one day; so much so that “United we stand and divided we fall” today seems to make a lot of sense. It took a long time for him to realize this but he seems to have learnt it after all and to an extent that he is now the most dangerous animal on Planet earth despite being physically much weaker than most creatures in the Animal Kingdom. In the Pre-medieval times, battles were fought between colonies to showcase supremacy and plunder everything that came in the way of victory. Moving on to Post-medieval times, wars were fought between kingdoms to showcase supremacy, seize natural resources, expand territories and enforce upon the defeated their ways of culture, tradition and their values. In the modern times, however, Wars have been fought with many countries rallying against perhaps just one or two of them who have veered off the right track. If you looked at the recently concluded World Wars, the Allies did not want to occupy Germany nor strip them of their tradition and values. They were observed to be treading a path that most felt was immoral….A path in which all people saw was the growth of Nazi power, concentration camps, execution of Jews, the rise of Dictatorship and a fall in democracy, freedom and independence. A war was inevitable.

In my honest opinion, War is a good thing. I don’t know what it is about the war that most hate but I, on the contrary love everything about it. The scores of games and movies that have been released based on wars have all been most captivating, to say the least. But, wait, you may ask what kind of experience I have that I am basing my verdict to talk this way about Wars??? It is a known fact that War is horrific, gory and is all about death, destruction and mayhem, but, there is always a purpose behind everything that ever happens and I find myself falling in love with the purpose nearly every single time. As John Lennon once said “You may say I’m a Dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” All my life I have dreamt of serving the Armed Forces and in that endeavor even came close to getting recommended for the Air Force performing extreme tasks in real quick times and surviving days of stiff competition. If it weren’t for my Physique and the small build, I would have been flying high and answering a resounding “YES” to the call of the Indian Armed Forces……. “Do you have it in you”??? Although this never happened, it never deterred my spirit and I have been doing what I could do best…….virtually living that dream incorporating their principles like discipline, selfless service, camaraderie, trust and going beyond the call of duty whenever a situation demanded. There is always a subtle difference between a civilian and a person from the Armed Forces. They are taught to be disciplined, focused, dedicated and made to work on meager supplies of the essential food, shelter and clothing. I absolutely, totally love those countries which make it compulsory for every youth to serve the nation by being in the Armed Forces even if it is only for a short while. Only then will people realize how invaluable the freedom they are experiencing today is. Only then will they have mutual respect and inculcate all the good values that every society yearns for. Only then will a sense of responsibility and sacrifice dawn on them. Only then will they follow rules and regulations and appreciate the need for them. Only then will they know what hardship is all about and manage their resources well. Only then will they appreciate that Life is a gift and is too precious to waste frivolously and irresponsibly.

The people of the new generation here in India have received freedom served on a platter. We never had to work hard or dedicate or focus ourselves for a common cause. Earlier, if people participated in rallies for be it “The Quit India Movement” or “The Salt Satyagraha” it was very well justified. But, today it appears that we participate in rallies for achieving quite naïve and silly endeavors like getting the names of movies changed[as in the case of Billu Barber] or a section of people asking for the Government to regard them as SC/STs[ as in the case of Gujjars]. What an irony this is??? In the past Dr.Ambedkar fought for getting equal rights for SC/STs so they would never be looked down upon but today the Gujjar clan want themselves to be recognized as SC/STs although they don’t qualify for such a category. Hell, these days there are people who can set fire to Public Transport vehicles just because of an accident that may have ensued on a congested road. The thing is ”Sarfaroshi ki tamanna abhi bhi hamaare dil main hai” and it just so happens that it is all giving vent to triumph in the most trivial of intentions.

An idle mind is a Devil’s workshop. If people don’t have anything to focus on, petty struggles will always ensue. For example, Maharashtra asking for Belgaum to be made part of their state and Tamil Nadu asking for Hogenakal Falls to be included as part of their territory. But, if there is a war at hand, everyone displays solidarity holding a candle or standing united hand in hand. It’s all about fighting for a common cause or focusing on a malady that is bothering the nation. It took many years, many governments, scores of Prime Ministers and Presidents to realize that smoking is a big social evil and come up with a simple rule as Smoking is prohibited in Public Spaces. We always tend to let the situation get out of hand before we take firm decisions in the best interest of all. Take Population for example, we are now officially the second most populous country in the world, behind China only by a small margin. For a country such as China that is nearly thrice the size of India in terms of the Surface Area, it is still OK for them to maintain and feed such a huge population. If we do not come up with a plan to control population, the alarming rate at which it is growing will guarantee that quality will suffer and at the same time supply of human resources will be higher than the demand.

It’s a shame really if we cannot protect our own people living in the border areas from some of the extremist neighboring countries in spite of the fact that Defense has been given the highest priority and allocated the maximum finances in nearly every budget out till date. I don’t see a point in doing so much for the defense of the country and still not feeling secure at the end of it all! Let’s get done with this once n for all so we can concentrate on other things that are of greater magnitude and have far reaching consequences. I agree that there would be a considerable loss of life, destruction to property and civilian life will mostly be mired in total chaos. But, hey, you can’t have the cake and eat it too. To gain something you gotta lose something. Cities destroyed can be rebuilt; Lives lost will be remembered for their exemplary bravery and martyrdom. The current state that we are in is best described as a body that’s suffering from slow poisoning just because it is controlled by a vacillating brain that has given in to certain temptations the world terms…………….. “Social Evils”.

Would you like a peace within which there is always a war? In simpler terms it’s like asking if you are going to like a heavy downpour that gets over quickly or a mild drizzle that never ceases to stop. The only difference being that you don’t have to wait for the Rainy Season to experience both and then come to a decision. You can make it happen…….You can choose right here, right now!!!