Sachin: Another war! The visuals from Ukraine are really disturbing!
Ajay: Indeed they are. War is the last thing a pandemic ravaged world wants now.
Sachin: Im so scared, to be frank.
Ajay: Scared of the economic impacts? Yes, petrol prices are likely to go through the roof now. Gold will also rise, currencies will fluctuate and almost every company will feel the pinch wherever they are.
Sachin: Thats terrible.
Ajay: But I think we should be more worried about the psychological impacts of the war.
Sachin: Like the stress in the people who go through conflicts?
Ajay: That and more. With every new episode of war, were telling the world, our youngsters that the idea of war as a solution, conflict as a solution for a crisis is cool. Wars help people normalise the idea of conflict as a fix — whatever our justifications for war are.
Sachin: Thats true! Such a wrong message we send!
Ajay: Each war is a reminder of the wrong way in which humans evolve. We grow away from peace and the ideas and ideals of civilization. Each war is a statement by the humans that they never learn from history. They declare they cease to be human. Because the essential quality for being human, I believe, is compassion. Wars tell us weve lost it. And when we repeat the mistake of warring we tell ourselves that weve stopped learning.
Sachin: Thats insightful! But what do we do about it, Ajay?
Ajay: I guess Bob Dylan put it more clearly when he sang Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned? / The answer my friend is blowing in the wind!