Today, I am throwing away all those big 8-9 letter English words that need some complicated critical thinking and analysis. Let’s dive right into the basics. Past few days, all I have been hearing is people loosely throwing away the word WAR predicting World War 3, witnessing a lot of Violence, looking at nature burn, it’s honestly pretty disturbing to not think about what’s happening around. I think it’s time for us to give ourselves a few of these gentle reminders.
WAR IS UGLY.
This is something people don’t realize. It costs lives. It costs resources. It costs somebody their home and somebody their everything. It is ugly. Someday, try getting out of your comfy zone and walk into the war zone. You will realize people living there holding onto this one emotion predominantly in every decision they make. FEAR.
Every action they do is out of fear. Fear of being political pawns. Fear of being separated from loved ones. Fear of being tortured. Fear of being killed. And that fear is the aftermath of what we do. Generations after generations live in that fear. War once started, never ends. The reparations go on forever and ever.
Peace is not for cowards. Peace is for brave souls who look at a bigger picture and have immense patience to weave the threads of harmony into this world. In a UN meeting, somebody once told me to try using “Peace Pearls” instead of “Bullet Points” in my presentations. And that right there was a gentle reminder for love and peace. We have all these diplomatic institutions to bring negotiations onto the table and foster peace. Let’s make them effective and utilize those platforms. I believe any disagreement can be sorted with a middle ground, when it is brought onto a discussion table. That’s the beauty of diplomacy.
NO TO VIOLENCE.
A college campus is a place for students to understand the world, get to know different ideologies, explore what they identify with, and grow. A gentle reminder that there is no pre-defined left or pre-defined right. The left and right vary from country to country and community to community. And it doesn’t make sense to band rights or lefts from all countries together because they are unique in their core values and don’t have a single common thread. It is all about the causes you identify with. Don’t let somebody pre-define an ideology for you and be sucked into the herd-mentality. Look at the causes and define it for yourself. If the ideology you identify with is provoking violence, take a step back and look right through it. You will know that something is wrong and it needs to be fixed.
You have an ideological conflict with me, let’s battle it out with brains. Violence is a No No. Violence is provoked and committed by people who cannot morally justify why they are doing what they are doing. The violence I see today could have been in my college. And it could have been me with a bleeding head. College campuses are for students to express their views without fear. And it is the duty of institutions, administrations, governments, and judiciary system to foster a healthy environment and protect the students. And clearly, all these systems are failing. They are being inefficient and knowingly or unknowingly turning a blind eye to the ground reality. Of course, your freedom of speech can be taken away from you when it is disrupting the National Security. But what’s happening right now is NOT a threat to National Security but a threat to our Basic Human Rights.
We see growing Hatred and Fear in our communities. The urge to physically harm somebody is sick. Be it communal violence, domestic violence, or institutional violence, people who have that mindset need help. They belong to correctional facilities. Let us fight back with all our strength. Let us hold our governments accountable. Let us raise our voices and make them be heard. Let us fight for our rights and fulfil our duties. But most importantly let us not forget to do all of this by only and only wielding peace.
IS THIS HOW THE WORLD ENDS?
I was reading about the Australian fires and started feeling numb. In the last one year we saw the Californian fires, Amazon fires, and now Australia is burning. I keep wondering why we are not learning how to pick ourselves up despite falling down multiple times. We boast that this world is a global village. What use is it when we not learning from the mistakes of one place and not being ready to fight them in another. I started wondering if we are just going to turn a blind eye to all these problems and let the apocalypse hit us like a slow poison and wipe us out before we even realize it.
I am not going to sit back, sip my coffee, and watch this world burn. As a responsible global citizen, I am going to raise my voice and question.
And if you think I am preaching here, yes! I absolutely am.
The last gentle reminder – This world contradicts itself. The more we look at it, we realize it is beautiful, ugly, kind, and cruel. This world is made up of our actions. An aggregation of our little little actions.
Can’t we all be a bit kinder and nicer to the one next door? Can’t we do that little bit? Through random acts of kindness, can’t we make this world a better place?
Lastly, I just want to share this picture of Violet Skies and Star Trails we captured a couple of weeks ago. The more I look at this, I get reminded of the beauty this nature holds and I feel calmer and kinder. Let us spread love and peace.
Vineesha Badabhagni 
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