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 are using the same method. Finally the small fires of hatred they light become a bonfire, atomic, nuclear and beyond control.

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

Why should these tears be shed?

bobsbanter@gmail.com