“Most things in life have to be experienced and then they can be known”-Dr Bhatnagar
The tanks rolling in on the streets in Ukraine, the gunfire, and the horrors of war all came hurtling back as memories as a child. What most people do not know about me is that I too have experienced war, yet not as a soldier but as a victim of it. I was but a young lad of 15 when I witnessed the invasion of Kuwait by the Iraqi troops as they marched in Aug 2, 1990. I lived through that devastation, nay I survived it.
I was awoken with the piercing sounds of gun fire echoing in the neighborhood. The loud tanks barraging into the city eroding the roads as they stormed through. The fierce missile as it flew past my bedroom windows, melting the glass. The terrified screams of the people darting about for shelter. The captured Kuwaiti soldiers being executed before my very eyes.
All these memories came tumbling back as I saw the footage of the war unfolding at the other end of the world. It does not change. War is war. Perhaps the geography shifts but the faces full of fear, terror and tears always look the same. The race, the gender, the color of skin all blends into one suffering human being torn from their sanctity of their home at times of a crisis. I will tell you from experience that the media photos or the news video footage do not do the justice to the sheer fear and terror one experiences while they go through this situation.
Yet it is only through experience one even comprehends the magnitude of any situation, whether it is in a tough relationship, an unforgiving illness, a tsunami of war or anything that disturbs the senses. One may even say that it is not until one is in another’s shoes that they understand what that person is going through. I would add that it is not until we are in the other person’s feet that we truly experience the other’s life.
I have worked through my “PTSD” of war. I had lost my home and my childhood friends who were my like family since I was but a toddler. I hope those that become victims of this tragedy or have already experienced this psychological, physical and emotional violence can one day heal. My heart goes out to them all indifferently.
In the end the only true cost of any war is the destruction of the human heart and soul.
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I love you
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