Love, Understand and Appreciate...

 “ Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high and where the world is not broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls”
- Rabindranath Tagore

Why is peace important? We always ponder over this question and wonder why people and nations fight over trivial issues? According to psychology aggression and lust are two inherent qualities of a human that lead to this face- off between the nations. Is it because of these qualities or there is more to it. We all believe that progress is not possible without peace but if we turn the pages of any history book we discover that the end result of progress was war and destruction. There was never establishment of peace in the real sense after war. It was only an uneasy truce. Can we think of ever lasting peace? Yes, everlasting peace is possible.

Peace can prevail among people as well as nations. The first thing one needs to understand is that we are not competing but collaborating. Many nations are thus collaborating on economic and social front to help each other tackle various problems that they are confronting. Thus, common problems and issues bring the people close to each other because they have personally experienced the pain and trauma associated with it. When the realisation of pain outweighs the sense of being superior and master of others destiny, peace prevails. 

The Olympic Games is a testimony of peace. No matter what, all the nations of the world gather to celebrate oneness. The five rings in the Olympic logo further testify that all the nations of the world can stand united and at peace if they can find that common binding link. The world comes to celebrate Sports even when face with deadliest enmity during the world wars. The world comes to a halt, bury their differences and congratulate one another, as the other nation emerges triumphant. They show respect to the emblems of other nations – the anthem and the flag. All flags of the participating nations always become secondary to the Olympic flag.

Another aspect that brings people close to one another is art. Art knows no boundaries. It has no language yet it touches the heart and soul of every living creature. Take for instant literature – one can draw parallels between the contemporary epics Iliad and Ramayana. The characters of Helen and Sita   and their problems are more or less similar. We enjoy the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens as well as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy the great writers in the same way as Sidney Sheldon, Anita Desai and like…. by transcending the barriers of languages and geographical distances.

Just like art and sports, there is another initiative that has come forward to transform the world in to a “Global Village” and that my dear friends across nations is the initiative of “Education”, we learn beyond our books, our boundaries and thereby learn to respect each other as human beings irrespective of our gender, caste and in this case our nationalities. Thus, this education makes us aware of why is it so important both politically and psychologically, we as nations must come together and spread the essence of love and peace and in the words of Michael Jackson, “Heal the World”.

Thus, on the occasion of this year’s Peace Day, let’s compassionately come together as peace- bearers and spread the message of love, understand the importance of peace in this fast moving world and last but not the least learn to appreciate and thereby respect each other as human beings. So that the world, in the coming years, is not broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls.

Soham Sinha,

Podar International School.
IBDP-1