Built for War, But

"Are we at war, Mamma?"

My mother looked up from her book and smiled. "What do you think, dear?"

"We must be. There are so many planes."

"Don't let it scare you, dear." With that, Mamma was again deeply engrossed in her book, and I tried to finish the assignment that was due yesterday, only the deadline had been extended.

When the sound of the planes had ceased, Mamma looked up from her book again. "Let's go outside," she suggested.

"But the planes may come back."

"They won't. Let's go outside."

"I have to finish this assignment. It was due yesterday."

"You finished it ten minutes ago. You always fetch yourself a cup of juice after you finish. You haven't been my daughter this long without me knowing that about you. You really don't have to be scared of the planes, and you really need to come outside with me."

She had opened the door and stepped out before I worked up the courage to follow. Standing on our front steps, Mamma and I gazed up at the sky.

There were drawings there. Drawings the planes had left behind, surprisingly detailed for sky-art.

Drawings of the scenes during lock-down. The good scenes, that is. Animals frolicking in the forests, not scared of human hunters. Streets, minus the traffic. People helping one another.

And the sign above them, in sky-writing said:
Wake up, humanity.
Let peace begin with covid-19

I looked up at Mamma. She was smiling down at me. "Not war," she whispered. "Not war, my dear. This virus doesn't want war. It wants peace."

We went back into the house. When Dad returned from buying groceries, and had had the mandatory post-outing bath. we sat to chat as a family.

"The virus wants peace?" I asked. "How can it want peace, it's attacking us."

"It's reminding us. It's reminding us that animals live in uncertainty all the time. It's reminding us that we were meant to live with nature. Those planes, built for war, are trying to explain the message of peace."

This had me puzzled. I was thinking about it so long that Mom had to jerk me out of my reverie with the reminder that my online class was coming on.

There she was on scree, smiling at me, my teacher.

And my classmates, neatly arrayed on the side of the screen.

Without preamble, the teacher asked us, "Well?"

All of us knew it was about the planes and the drawing and writing they had left behind.

"But what can we do about it? I mean, I know that humans have messed up the planet ..." Shubhash began.

"What we can do," Miss Effie said, 'Is to stop messing up the planet. The next time you see something packed in a plastic wrapper, think about whether you really need it. The next time you brush your teeth, turn the tap off until you need the water ... do the little things that show you care for the earth."

"Is that why this virus came?" Shakuntala asked.

It was dawning on all of us. The virus had to attack us to bring home the message of peace. We were meant to live in harmony with nature. We weren't meant to cut down trees, kill wild animals, use resources wantonly, cause all the pollution we liked. We had to treat our planet with respect.

It was going to be difficult, but, at least in our class, a beginning had been made, thanks to the planes.