People often request me to create war awareness illustrations, especially in the midst of ongoing wars in West Asia and Eastern Europe.
I don't want to. Because it doesn't make any sense to me.
Whenever we ordinary people feel anger, rage, jealousy or envy, we wage war against fellow humans in whatever way we can, through words, silence, manipulation or emotional violence. Monarchs and rulers express the same feelings with weapons. The feeling is identical. Only the scale is different.
But the wars that worry me far more are the ones no one marches against: A mind at war with a heart, a boss at war with an employee, parents and children, spouses, the majority and the minority, the stronger and the weaker, the richer and the poorer. These wars happen every single day, in every home, in every relationship and in every quiet grudge held too long.
A mightier country waging war on a weaker one is simply the same war, given a flag and a border.
For me, war is a warning from the Creator, showing us what anger, jealousy and envy can grow into when we don’t question it. Instead of looking inward, we comment, share and perform our outrage, as though we ourselves are untouched by the very feelings that cause wars.
In ancient India, this is called Matsya Nyaya, the Law of Fishes and the Law of the Jungle. The bigger creature consumes the smaller one for survival. It is also said that whenever humanity takes this law into their own hands, it brings an end to their own arrogance and ego.
I am far more concerned about our inner wars than the outer ones, because the outer wars are only a reflection of what is already happening within.
— SCD Balaji
