Ukraine vs. Russia – My Two Cents

The last thing that the world, slowly limping back to normalcy after the havoc of COVID pandemic, needed was a war and the autocratic goon Putin has managed to trigger what could possibly be one of the worst events of this year, or may even be, of our generation. Visuals of explosions and war weaponry in Ukraine brought back memories of a documentary that I watched on Youtube sometime back. The documentary was about World War I, touted to be the 'War to end all wars'. I followed up that learning with another documentary on World War II. While both these documentaries were absolutely unbiased and informative, I noticed something that stood out amidst all that chaos. Every time the leaders of the warring nations came into view, as a part of the news clips or propaganda videos, they were all looking prim and proper. Well-kempt hair, cleanly shaven chins, bespoke suits, shining shoes and well-fed, happy faces.

On the other hand, the soldiers, the real ones facing the heat of the battle, dying for that imaginary pride of nationhood, fighting the battles of rich men, were stuck at bunkers and desolate landscapes. These solders were all emaciated figures, dirty, muddy uniforms, untidy appearances, injured and bleeding humans, shaken spirits and scarred souls, far away from the people whom they truly love and who matter to them more in the actual scheme of things. It didn't matter which side they were fighting for. The 'leaders' at whose behest, for whose bull-dung ideologies the wars were being fought were all hale and healthy, safely sitting in fortified homes, while the men wielding the weapons, for whom these ideologies did little or no good, were dying in scores. The leaders were all being addressed by their names in the video, while those men in bunkers and war machines went almost always unnamed and were mere numbers in the final outcome - '54680 soldiers died here', '23459 died there', etc.

But doesn't such injustice prevail the world over, outside the war zones too?! Whenever pitched battles are fought anywhere, in the name of worthless 'isms', isn't that the common man that becomes cannon fodder? Just look through world history. The total number of 'leaders' and politicians that fought from the forefront for their principles can easily be counted with the fingers on the left hand, whereas the common soldiers, the unsuspecting acolytes, ordinary party workers who all died for the sake of some promulgated principles form a huge chunk of human race. Why such a disparity?! Why that senseless, thoughtless obeying of these worthless politicians?! For all our sleek toys and glittering gadgets, we still remain primitive tribes, foraging mobs that are ready to pounce on neighbouring people at the faintest hint of a threat.

I have always wondered what it would be like, if these politicians indulged in fisticuffs or Mexican standoffs by themselves, weapons in hands and settle score by finishing off one another, instead of pulling the whole world into such prolonged, costly but worthless wars. Imagine politicians who would immolate themselves for their professed principles, instead of instigating their innocent followers to take to the streets and kill or be killed by the people from opposing camps?!

In the movie Troy, Achilles, played by Brad Pitt, scoffs at Agamemnon, uttering 'Imagine a king who fights his own battles! Wouldn't that be a sight?!' before heading into a face-off. Imagine a world where politicians like Putin take to the streets, fighting for their own stupid ideologies, instead of pushing others into the jaws of Death!

A.