“I saw the morning
It was shattered by a gun
Heard a scream, saw him fall, no one cried
I saw a mother
She was praying for her son
Bring him back, let him live, don’t let him die
Do you ever ask yourself
Is there a heaven in the sky?
Why can’t we get it right?”
- (Scorpions)
They were watching the news. Hundreds of Iraqis rendered homeless. Something begins to break inside me. They change the channel. News again. Riots in Kashmir. Something wants to cry out from within. They change the channel. “Too many news channels” they say. So many killed in Bosnia. Something wants to scream. They change the channel. A documentary on the World Wars. Something dies within. “Who wants to go out for ice-cream?” they ask.
They go for ice cream. I begin to cry.
“And does it really matter
If there’s a heaven up above?”
- (Scorpions)
Is this the definition of a human being that God created – the human being who is superior to all other creatures of God? They are cursing the leaders of our nations with every breath they take, for going to war or for not going war. Are they any far removed? War seems to have been reduced to an event, which they can catch up on while they are being urged to buy the best detergent in between saas-bahu sagas. Homeless people and dying millions is news in the papers they refer to as “There’s nothing to read in the papers. It’s the same news everyday”
If the “adults” of the world are so “grown-up” and “advanced” in their thinking, how is it that it is only the children of the world who seem to understand the dire consequences of what man is doing right now? How is it that only the children are affected by war? How is it that only the children cry when people die? Is it because they know they won’t have to live in the mess they create and is it because we know we will? Can anyone tell me why it is we, the children, who have to pay the price?
“Daddy where's the sun gone from the sky?
What did we do wrong, why did it die?
And all the grown ups say 'sorry kids we got no reply‘”
- (Robbie Williams)
I will not remain a child forever. I, too, will become an “adult” someday. Will I then be unaffected by the pain of the world around me? Will I too, let my children down by being insensitive to their need of living in a world of love and peace? Will I, too, cease to be a human being?
“White dove fly with the wind
Take our hope under your wings
For the world to know
Its hope when I die
When the children cry”
- (Scorpions)
They’re back. The TV’s on again. “Another riot broke out in Gujarat” I hear them say. “Hmmm…” is the reply.
As I’m drifting off to sleep I hear parts of their conversation…
“Mihir’s cheating on Tulsi you know!”
“Really? Oh my God…that’s terrible!”
I hear them sniffling and sobbing and I fall asleep praying I never grow up…
« return.