Glimpse

The past makes the present

I hate war, I had decided. I was sixteen when they recruited me for war. It had claimed the life of every other male in my family.

It was my turn: to face the immortal monster. And thus, I joined the dirt, the smell, the dead, the living-dead and the living-machines.

'The war can teach you a lot', I had said when I came back home a changed man, after our country won the war. Can it? I wondered later.

People offer kisses, flowers, hugs and words when they see an ex-soldier, someone who 'brought victory to us'. Not brought, I thought, bought; for the lives of the others who were with me.

Why do people celebrate after the war? Do they rejoice at the bloodshed and cruel killings? Blind, they are all blind; blinded by greed, by self-centred motives, by selfish wants.

Drink to the death of innocent thousands? Delight in destruction? Is that the source of our glory? War, the evil that destroys humanity is the end of us all.

Now, I campaign for peace along with other like-minded friends. LeoTolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi Malala, Nadiya Murad- following their steps we willbring this dream into a reality