The toddler in Gaza who had clasped a croissant and a coin in her hand when she said goodbye to the world, she left a message to the world - the harsh reality of war, conflict and broken hopes.
She must have endured pain but she never lost her grip. Her ringing message is an incomplete meal and an unfulfilled hope. Then there is Aouni Aldous, a 12-year-old with a dream of becoming a YouTuber. Today his videos leave us with a narration that make us wonder about what could have been.
There’s a young girl who says she has recognised her mother by her hair and is pleading to let her see the mother. She cries out loud... why she hasn’t been taken along with her mother and sister because she just cannot live without her mother? There is yet another boy who asks the doctor, ‘Am I alive?’ And a little boy asks about his sisters. Searching for relatives around dead bodies is a young boy. It is unimaginable in the normal situation as children have many rights to protect themselves, but now they are without the biggest protection in life, their parents.
When a conflict arises in a family, the one who suffers the most is the child. So we can imagine what happens when children are caught in a war. They are at the vulnerable stage in life. Childhood is the time when we collect memories for future and some of our favourite moments in life come from this period. This is where nostalgia bounces back. So what does the world have to give them, to erase the pain and heal the physical and emotional scars?
We cannot blame the nature because it is not a natural calamity, but a man made conflict. Surely it is a long standing conflict of decades. But where are we as a human race when we cannot provide children their basic rights?
When a child goes to school, a parent worries until the ward returns home. So how can these parents who had to leave their children behind in the world of uncertainties rest in peace? Not to forget are the elderly parents who needed the comfort of their children.
Families have been ripped apart, and no time in the war eras did people across the globe had to witness the impact of war as now and that is because of the social media.
In the past it was news channels and correspondents who gave facts and figures. In the present era, the digital world has brought the world together to a neighbourhood and what goes on in one place has an impact on people in other countries. People’s feelings have been triggered and there is a sense of guilt enveloping people who have been following the situation closely on social media. Many more people have been relying on social media so much that the news organisations have also begun to use the platforms earnestly.
While the news organisations bring out the reports, social media is taking people to camps, hospitals, families and children.
In other times, we would have been protective about images and videos of children. But in this commotion they seemed to have become the narrators for they do not have no where else to turn to. At least let them express themselves and as for the silent children, the shock and fear in their eyes say everything.
And so for everyone who is going through the emotions and responding in different ways what is the way forward?
Can we pause life?
There is sadness and anger and a feeling of helplessness. There is a sense of guilt when we forget ourselves and laugh only to shudder when thoughts of destruction and suffering ponder over the mind. Of course these moments make us realise how we take a normal day for granted. An event-less day seems like a gift.
We think about mental health as an extension of our physical health, but what about the children and the survivors who are yet to be consoled emotional and their wounds are yet to be healed.
So pause we must, hold them in our prayers and hope there are solid solutions to give them anxious free days.
But moving forward is a must to make a better tomorrow and share positivity.
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