And as the Hamas terrorize Israel and Israel retaliates with unparalleled fury, one knows that those laughing their way to the bank are the weapon manufacturers. To keep a war going, a country has to spend heavily and as England found out after the Second World War, she never really recovered, and from being a nation that ruled the world, she now trails far, far behind. Which brings me to the point I’d like to make and that is, why don’t we start investing as heavily in peace as we do in weapons of war and upkeep of armies?

Most of us believe that peace is inherent within us, that we are really peaceful at heart, and driven to battle only when no other means are available. But if we really look at ourselves, and the amount of books sold every day on bringing peace and calmness to the mind, we will begin to realize that we are more warlike than peace driven. If given bricks, we will rather throw it at each other, build walls to safeguard ourselves than build bridges!

What we need to do is to invest in peace!

A year or two ago, I was contacted by someone in Australia, and commissioned to write a play on solving the Israeli-Palestinian skirmishes through a plan of peace. It took me three months to write the play, and it will soon be enacted and hopefully made into a TV serial. It will also be put up in Bangalore by an Indian director and Indian cast.

What is the play on peace about? It’s about a lady American president, who grows up in Colaba, Bombay, and sees how a diverse country like India, has different communal groups living side by side, without going at each other’s throats every day. She grows up to become a journalist, whose writings become known, goes back to America, joins politics and finally becomes president of the United States.

She decides to build bridges instead of walls, and starts investing in peace measures in a big way in Israel.

I’m not going to reveal any more of the plot because I’d like you to see the play when it’s either staged or appears on screen, but the gist of it is that the president puts in billions of dollars into building bridges of peace.

Unfortunately, politicians are so focused on coming to power that they are using the message of communal hate and violence and winning votes through this. As Israel pays for doing the same, we also as a nation need to watch out because our politicians use the same method. Finally the small fires of hatred they light become a bonfire, atomic, nuclear and beyond control.

Learn to build bridges of peace instead.

Here’s a small story of two brothers who lived side by side in their own farms for many years, until one day, a foolish argument caused a rift between them. This was the first serious disagreement the brothers had in all of their 50 years. Up until that day, they always worked their fields together, shared knowledge and produce, and lent a helping hand to one another in times of need. The fight began over a small misunderstanding, but the dispute dragged on and became an angry exchange of words, followed by weeks of silence.

One day, there was a knock on the older brother’s door. When he opened it, he was facing an old, bearded carpenter, holding a toolbox. “Do you need any repairs in your farm?” asked the stranger. “Yes”, replied the brother, “I’ve got a job for you. Across the creek, there’s a farm that happens to belong to my younger brother. Until recently, the whole area between our homes was green, but then he changed the creek’s path, making it into a border between us. I’m sure he did that for spite, but I’ll show him…” said the older brother. “You see those trees by the barn? I want you to turn them into a 10-foot tall wooden wall. I never want to see his face again.”

The old carpenter thought quietly to himself for a few minutes and eventually said: “I see”.

The farmer helped the carpenter carry his tools and the wood, and then drove off to the city on some errands. When he came back in the evening, the old carpenter had finished. Upon arriving at the creek, the older brother was stunned. His eyes were bulging out, and he couldn’t utter a single word.

Where a wooden wall should have been standing, a bridge now stood. A quaint and special bridge, truly a work of art, with an intricately carved banister. At the same time, the younger brother happened to come to the same spot. He rushed over the bridge and embraced his older brother, and said: “You’re something special… Building a bridge, after all I’ve said and done!” While both brothers were hugging, the old carpenter collected his tools and started walking away. The brothers turned to him and said “Please, stay for a few more days – we have more things that need fixing!”

“I would have loved to stay, kind sirs,” said the carpenter, “But I have many more bridges to build and things to fix, especially here in this country!”

What a beautiful story, isn’t it? So here’s some work for us; as leaders in our country and also in the world, let us not build walls and polarize people, let’s instead start building bridges, with the same emotional material, but instead of binding with hate, use love!

As my play reveals, finally the tears generated on both sides are not Muslim tears or Jewish tears, not Christian or Hindu, but tears of grief.

The dead in Israel, numbering several hundreds are gone forever, so also those who are dead, dying, and going to die in the Gaza.

Why should these tears be shed?

If only the money spent on weapons, spent on hate, could be used to teach peace, if only stones are used to build bridges and not walls, there would be less weeping and wailing, and more exclamations of joy..!