My history book in school was replete with war heroes. 'Alexander the Great', conquered the world, I studied. 'Napolean' the French emperor who led France through many victories and conquered many parts of Europe was celebrated. We were taught resilience and never say die attitude from the hero Ghazni Mohammed. I was ten years old when the Kargil war was fought. The bare minimal memory of those days was celebrating victory in a war. We had won! The enemy was conquered, hurray!
The movie Lakshya on Kargil which I watched with so much passion never showed the lives of the many soldiers who died along the way; on the way to capturing the highest point of 'Nowhere in particular'.
I celebrated the movie. Loved it to bits. Had goosebumps when Hrithik Roshan limped to the peak and planted the Indian flag on the cliff. On that unlivable cliff!
Wars, the bloodiest wars of history had always been portrayed as the fiefdoms of courage and valour. Yet, there is another side to it. The sadder side! Strangely, war never meant destruction. No, never we learnt about the number of people Gazni killed in his conquests. Whatever happened to their families? Did they manage to rebuild the damaged houses? What happened to the widow? Did she end up living all her life wearing the sad white sarees? Were they thrown in the funeral pyre of the martyred husbands? What about the children? Did the scar of losing dads ever go away? Did they harbour the hurt of their loved ones getting killed all their lives? Ah! The sadness of war. That gory face which was never shown in our history books.
The history books were written by the Winners, said, my friend! Well, didn't the winner lose anything? Of course, India supposedly won the Kargil war. And what did we get out of it? The pride of keeping the national flag on the snowy ice-clad mountain where mankind can never live. Maybe a few goosebumps and for sure some respect among the other nations! All of these are important. Very important; but did we count the cost? The lives of many soldiers. The devastated families. Orphaned children and widowed women. Will the Paramvir chakra ever give them their lives?
Warmongering people, Count the cost! Wars can never be profitable. Not even for the winners. For there are no winners in a war.
War histories were not written by winners! History books were written by those who lost lesser comparatively.
The movie Lakshya on Kargil which I watched with so much passion never showed the lives of the many soldiers who died along the way; on the way to capturing the highest point of 'Nowhere in particular'.
I celebrated the movie. Loved it to bits. Had goosebumps when Hrithik Roshan limped to the peak and planted the Indian flag on the cliff. On that unlivable cliff!
Wars, the bloodiest wars of history had always been portrayed as the fiefdoms of courage and valour. Yet, there is another side to it. The sadder side! Strangely, war never meant destruction. No, never we learnt about the number of people Gazni killed in his conquests. Whatever happened to their families? Did they manage to rebuild the damaged houses? What happened to the widow? Did she end up living all her life wearing the sad white sarees? Were they thrown in the funeral pyre of the martyred husbands? What about the children? Did the scar of losing dads ever go away? Did they harbour the hurt of their loved ones getting killed all their lives? Ah! The sadness of war. That gory face which was never shown in our history books.
The history books were written by the Winners, said, my friend! Well, didn't the winner lose anything? Of course, India supposedly won the Kargil war. And what did we get out of it? The pride of keeping the national flag on the snowy ice-clad mountain where mankind can never live. Maybe a few goosebumps and for sure some respect among the other nations! All of these are important. Very important; but did we count the cost? The lives of many soldiers. The devastated families. Orphaned children and widowed women. Will the Paramvir chakra ever give them their lives?
Warmongering people, Count the cost! Wars can never be profitable. Not even for the winners. For there are no winners in a war.
War histories were not written by winners! History books were written by those who lost lesser comparatively.
1 comment:
Content Ilana angayasuthama next topic podanum... There is a definite profit in war but for whom is the question.
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