Monday, 30 June 2014

Why war is better at keeping peace

"Are we looking at the third world war?"

I came across this headline while scrounging for news on Google for any newsworthy items. And yes, I found plenty.This week China has again gone ahead with their cartographic skills, which for some strange reason showed parts of North east India in China. ISIS introduces a new caliphate in all it's captured regions in Iran and Syria and Ukraine is still caught in an seemingly unending nightmare of civil war. So yes, everything is normal as usual. But is there a war brewing up, one that could consume an entire generation?

Argue with the barrel - Bismark
In a world with growing hostility, there should be a conclusive movement towards war, evidently, as said famously by Bismark "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood." And those rules sadly do not work in today's political world. And here is how.

First reason would be the inter dependence of economies, due to globalization. The economy of war is profitable, but complete annihilation of a country is not a great appetizer. Take an example, if China declares war on India, (which should not happen and if happens should not be attributed to this blog) South East Asia might rally with India(eg Japan, Vietnam etc.), due to the multiple conflicts that China has picked up over disputed territories. China would weaken economically by losing business in these countries in industries that it might have set up there.

I am the destroyer - Hiroshima
Second would be the dreaded super weapon : the N Bomb. If Hiroshima taught us something, it was that with great power comes great destruction. The use of this abomination in the war would lead to nuclear retaliation, causing mutual destruction on a catastrophic level. In the words of the great Oppenheimer, who headed the creation of the atom bomb "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." 
One example can be taken from India and Pakistan. During the prime minister Vajpayee's time India and Pakistan conducted many Nuclear tests, each outnumbering the other, winning a Ig Nobel price for the unconventional method of promoting peace, by flexing one's muscles. 

Third reason would be that any war will turn into a world war. With vested interests of multiple countries in all parts of the world, even a small island can kick up a big feud. Take for example the Ukrainian conflict. From a resolution to join the EU turned into a reminiscent of the cold war era, with the US and Russia putting their weight behind the two opposing faction. Indians students have been transported back from Ukraine and Europe is voicing a need for the end of this violence. War is a complex phenomenon that involves multiple stakeholders, from the aggressors to even the passive viewers

Today seems a very distant contrast to the linear world run by European monarchs, on the throne fashioned from the backs of the their colonies. So when I see such predictions, I am not afraid, only hopeful that we are afriad to bring war upon ourselves. One knows that peace is only temporary, and it would not be long before we find an imperialist at the head of a government, plotting world domination. But let us enjoy the peace as it lasts. After all now international politics is like a game of ring a ring a rose. In the end, we keep playing till we all fall down.

Sunday, 29 June 2014

THE BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING !!

An Indian wedding is similar to a Greek Mythology - its parts mean a lot more than the whole! Weddings in India have a firm foundation, attached with an even firmer belief. The coming together of two individuals and hence the extension of one's family to incorporate equal number of relatives from their partner's side, well this is the, what we would say, the technological crux of an Indian Wedding. But being Mass Media students, we need to use our deeper insights, right!
Weddings in India form a characteristic level of an individuals life, for example- if you are in the so-called marriageable age group, then getting you married will be the top action in the priority list of all your uncles and aunts. Every time you meet them, they'll be having the perfect match for you as if they are running their own marriage bureau. And if you are married, you become a walking example of how amazing your life can become after marriage. Plus, you are also supposed to provide advice to the to-be-bride/groom.
Even the economics of an Indian Wedding are more tangled than an individual's personal dilemmas. Every aspect of weddings in India, is so critical in its approach that even initiating its planning is like getting into the arena to fight with vicious monsters. And with the present generation being lazy at its best, it has paved way for the development of Wedding Planners.
Wedding Planning has become a booming segment of the Indian economy with hundreds of crores as its annual turnover ( who said India wasn't the golden bird anymore! ).
"So go on, tie the knot in a radiant style, after all a great chunk of your country's economy is dependent on it."
No matter how much we criticize the aberrated norms of our wedding culture, at the end of the day the rituals, the masala, the gossips, the food, the dresses and loads of laughter do form a great entertainer and are etched in our minds, well, till the next wedding of the season.
But one of the main attractions of an Indian Wedding , which also strikes a cord with our hearts , is the way in which one household has to let go of their daughter, on whom they have been showering infinite love and care through most of their life, the emotional turmoil they must have to undergo. But the only thing that keeps them going, is the belief in their minds and hearts that she will be accepted with the same amount of love and care into the new household that now forms an integral part of her life.
Yes, I agree, the drama quotient in Indian Weddings is a bit too high!! But what's life without a pinch of drama in it ?
Hence, having put forward my thoughts on Indian Weddings, now I would like to put my pen down with the hope in my mind that weddings in India keep on becoming more entertaining!!