War has finally arrived at our dining table. Not with tanks, not with soldiers marching past our windows, but with something far more terrifying. The possibility that tomorrow morning our kitchen gas cylinder might refuse to cooperate.
Nothing unites a nation faster than the fear of uncooked food.
Until yesterday we were all international experts on the war. Every uncle in every housing society had a strategic opinion. In parks, trains, and WhatsApp groups people spoke with the confidence of retired generals. Iran should do this. America must do that. Israel should respond immediately. Russia should intervene. Ukraine should hold its ground.
Everyone knew exactly how wars should be fought.
But suddenly the news arrives that LPG supplies may be affected.
And immediately the conversation changes.
The same uncle who yesterday wanted missile strikes is now staring anxiously at his gas stove and saying softly, “Maybe diplomacy is better.”
War is very heroic until the gas cylinder runs out.
For most of us war has always been something that happens on television. We watch it between two advertisements for cooking oil and detergent. There are maps, arrows, serious looking experts pointing at countries we could not locate last week. It feels distant. Almost educational.
But imagine the people actually living there.
Imagine sitting at home and hearing a loud explosion outside. For one brief second you might think someone is bursting a Diwali rocket. Then you realise that rockets during Diwali do not usually flatten buildings.
Imagine children suddenly learning the difference between thunder and artillery.
Imagine a mother wondering whether the next sound she hears will still allow her family to remain a family.
And suddenly our missing LPG cylinder begins to look like a very polite inconvenience.
Perhaps that is the strange gift of this little domestic crisis. When our breakfast threatens to become a fruit salad instead of a hot omelette, we begin to understand a tiny fraction of what war really means.
So, tomorrow morning, if you find yourself bravely chewing an apple because the stove refuses to light, take a moment.
Think of families in Iran, Israel, Ukraine, Russia and other places where the problem is not uncooked food but shattered homes.
Let our fruit diet become a protest diet.
As we bite into bananas and papayas, let us also raise our voices against war. All wars. Every war. Because the moment war enters the kitchen, the dining table suddenly becomes a place of deep philosophy.
The truth is very simple; nobody really wants war.
But only when war reaches the kitchen table, do the bravest WhatsApp generals suddenly remember that peace is the only recipe worth cooking…!
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
Well said. Peace is the only recipe worth cooking
Thank you Doctor.
Absolutely and no gas eventually will hit everyone
It certainly will. Thank you.
We have become so selfish that we are not concerned about what is happening in our neighbors house. The war images we see on TV are treated as entertainment. No one is concerned until problems come to their threshold. A shortage of gas has made us to realize like the prodigal son that peace is the only solution to keep us alive and our tables full of food.
Exactly! Thank you.
A global warming of a different kind…..
This clearly proves that in any war, there are no winners, only losers. The degrees of loss may vary but the outcome is devastating irrespective of whether one chooses to be silent or outspoken.
Taking sides therefore is stupidity since losing is inevitable.
Our natural resources are being destroyed which is pathetic and painful.
We’ve lost thousands of skilled personnel in the armed forces and navy, innocent civilians, children bombed in schools!!
North, South, East West
In a war, NOBODY is at rest.
Lpg today, rising grocery prices will be next.
Our economy takes a beating
Just when we thought we had progressed!
Let’s hope our leaders quickly join together for PEACE instead.
Isn’t it ironic that we first fire missiles and then light candles to mourn the dead?
Well Said. Thank you Shylaja!
“An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can be attained through understanding.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Absolutely Shylaja. Good to see your comments!
It’s true, wars have no winners only losers!
And the tragedy is that young innocent children are the hapless victims. Their lives are shattered and their vacant looks say it all. The leaders have big egos and power has robbed them of wisdom and a conscience!