Friday, August 28, 2009

Grave of Fireflies

"We make war so that we may live in peace" said Aristotle. Opinion it might be, but a strong one at that. There have been innumerable movies, songs and quotes both pro and anti war. Cliches that are deep inside our minds. War is just another word in the dictionary for some, for many others it is a piece of news to debate about. But how often does the truth of war hit you?

I got to watch this Japanese movie named "Grave of fireflies" (Japanese name is "Hotaru no haka"). The movie pictures the lives of two siblings who have lost their parents in world war. It explains the pains that one has to go through irrespective of whether war was an option or a compulsion for him/her. Lives are put in danger at the roll of a dice (If nothing less). I used to discuss war as though it is a natural occurrence but I guess I can never fully understand its importance till the day I put my life in someone else s hands, till the day I face an unknown bullet with my name on it or a shell with probably 30 others along with me or even a nuke with crores of them. What was more appealing about the movie was its depiction of the lives of the people who are not directly involved in the war but have to face its dire consequences for being the off-springs of some unlucky fireflies (People dying with burnouts or people with short lives were symbolically shown as fireflies in the movie). The story being true made my heart sink to the deepest of emotions and tried my best not to cry.

While I agree that eternal peace is impractical, we should not forget that peace is an objective that is to be constantly thought about. Even if war is logical in certain situations, why do we not think of keeping the innocent civilians out of it. I can not believe that I myself was a supporter of Israel when they waged a war against Lebanon. I had turned a blind eye on the thousands of the civilians who were victims of the war although they had nothing to do with the stupid shelling. I hope to support the right side the next time and not support war crime of any kind.

1 comment:

dvibahu said...

u shud write more...n not just in CB...