A Thousand Splendid Suns

I just finished reading the book "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. He has portrayed how innocent people (especially women) suffer during wars. I have read a few fiction books about covert operations and war (mainly Alistair Maclean and Robert Ludlum). These books always portrayed the war through the eyes of soldiers and governments but never through the eyes of innocent civilians.

This book opened my eyes to the cruelty faced by people when war ravages through their homes and takes everything they love and cherish away from them - brothers, sisters, parents, friends, list goes on.... We see footages of homeless people and refugee camps in news. Somehow it won't affect many of us because we have never known these people personally and a 30 sec footage is not going to make a great impact.

Khaled on the othe hand is brought out the ill effects in such a painful way. The book actually moved me to tears. I say this because I am not the kind of person who cries easily. We feel really sorry for the main characters and are left wondering how many actually suffered like this and how many are still suffering.

It's not just Afghanistan which has these problems. Homes are destroyed in thousands of places everyday. Kashmir, an extension of heaven on earth, has become hell. The beauty of the place is lost in all the attacks and fear. Same can be said about Srilanka.

Time and again we have all seen the damages caused by war. Everyday new pacts are signed and new alliances are formed but still we do not have any solution. Just when one problem is solved the next one shows it's ugly head. History has shown time and again that we do not achieve anything except bloodshed by all the war but man never learns.

A world without war would be so nice. But it's just a daydream. Thousands are oppressed everyday and this leads to the birth of new factions. Where and when all this will stop - no one knows. If only we could forgive and forget and have a fresh start, we could make this place heaven again.