"..and if it pleases you my Lord, do not place my heart
In the hands of a man with a riffle and grenade."
I've always loved a man in uniform. There is, I believe, an unparalleled air around them that commands respect and admiration. If beholding such a man gives me a high I can only imagine the feeling of walking beside one; but I won't because I don't think that I am brave enough. I vividly remember sitting in the chapel when I was younger, praying that I should never fall in love with a soldier. Why? I am selfish and I can't give my country the people I love. That brings me to another breed of people that I admire. The woman beside the man in uniform; someone I could never be. What courage!
It's been twelve years since we won the Kargil war. Browsing through the gory details I shudder to think of what we lost that day! The figures are appalling; over 500 Indian soldiers took to martyrdom, more than a thousand were rendered wounded and allegedly one was a POW. Did we really win? The loss on the other side was as bad, may be worse; allegedly 4,000 died, 800 were wounded and 8 were POWs. They say a war has no winners and the sacrifice that these soldiers, both Indian and Pakistani, and their loved ones made in the 1999 war advocates the same. Marking the anniversary of Vijay Divas Harsha Bhogle aptly tweeted, "Anniversary of Kargil: An event that was wasteful, unnecessary and utterly sad. May it never need to happen again." Does this mean that there is a school of thought which undermines the sacrifices that our jawans made for us. Of course not! What they did for us is priceless. That said, will there ever be a way to avoid a similar loss in the future?
I recently read a book about the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhakh Rabin; a human being who put man before the sabbath. A man who walked the talk putting peace before piece (of land) Laws are put in place to protect man and not to render him vulnerable and helpless. As rational and thinking individuals we need to revisit our beliefs often enough to ensure that we haven't deviated from the core purpose. Many a time, even on a micro level we get so engrossed in an argument that we loose track of what we are arguing about. Arguments, debates, discussions all aim at progress and betterment. It's never about proving someone wrong but trying to see the bigger picture and accommodating the larger good.
There are arguments that could justify war - self defense and survival instinct. You could get back at me saying, "If you think Rabin's giving up that stretch of land was justified are you willing to give up Kashmir?" I really don't know. All I'd say is that we got to start somewhere; and that is possible if each one of us thinks anti-war, if each one of us thinks peace. Well, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us . And the world will be as one.
"...sarhadein insaano ke liye hain; socho tumne aur maine kya paya insaan hoke!" - Javed Akhtar
"..and the realisation is that we are all born the same." - Aswad
In the hands of a man with a riffle and grenade."
I've always loved a man in uniform. There is, I believe, an unparalleled air around them that commands respect and admiration. If beholding such a man gives me a high I can only imagine the feeling of walking beside one; but I won't because I don't think that I am brave enough. I vividly remember sitting in the chapel when I was younger, praying that I should never fall in love with a soldier. Why? I am selfish and I can't give my country the people I love. That brings me to another breed of people that I admire. The woman beside the man in uniform; someone I could never be. What courage!
It's been twelve years since we won the Kargil war. Browsing through the gory details I shudder to think of what we lost that day! The figures are appalling; over 500 Indian soldiers took to martyrdom, more than a thousand were rendered wounded and allegedly one was a POW. Did we really win? The loss on the other side was as bad, may be worse; allegedly 4,000 died, 800 were wounded and 8 were POWs. They say a war has no winners and the sacrifice that these soldiers, both Indian and Pakistani, and their loved ones made in the 1999 war advocates the same. Marking the anniversary of Vijay Divas Harsha Bhogle aptly tweeted, "Anniversary of Kargil: An event that was wasteful, unnecessary and utterly sad. May it never need to happen again." Does this mean that there is a school of thought which undermines the sacrifices that our jawans made for us. Of course not! What they did for us is priceless. That said, will there ever be a way to avoid a similar loss in the future?
I recently read a book about the assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhakh Rabin; a human being who put man before the sabbath. A man who walked the talk putting peace before piece (of land) Laws are put in place to protect man and not to render him vulnerable and helpless. As rational and thinking individuals we need to revisit our beliefs often enough to ensure that we haven't deviated from the core purpose. Many a time, even on a micro level we get so engrossed in an argument that we loose track of what we are arguing about. Arguments, debates, discussions all aim at progress and betterment. It's never about proving someone wrong but trying to see the bigger picture and accommodating the larger good.
There are arguments that could justify war - self defense and survival instinct. You could get back at me saying, "If you think Rabin's giving up that stretch of land was justified are you willing to give up Kashmir?" I really don't know. All I'd say is that we got to start somewhere; and that is possible if each one of us thinks anti-war, if each one of us thinks peace. Well, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope some day you'll join us . And the world will be as one.
"...sarhadein insaano ke liye hain; socho tumne aur maine kya paya insaan hoke!" - Javed Akhtar
"..and the realisation is that we are all born the same." - Aswad
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