‘Yes, life is tough, but this is nothing compared to Stalingrad’, I said this many times during the early months of the lockdown caused by the pandemic. But, what did I know about Stalingrad? I had just heard and read about Stalingrad being the deadliest battle in the Second World War. Never really got down to knowing more. This time though, the constant comparisons I made between lockdown living and Stalingrad made me reach tipping point. I read Antony Beevor’s Stalingrad. I also saw a documentary episode on Stalingrad. And I know I am not done with Stalingrad yet! War is the most savage cruelty we inflict on each other and yet, perversely, war also pushes us to confront who we are; what it means to be human. The facade of civilisation is blown apart and we are left sifting through the debris, salvaging something; anything that we hope to piece together; so that we can reconstruct our sense of being human again. What happened in Stalingrad is something well-nigh impossible to comprehend. If we did, we would not be…
When warring sides played football on the battle field: The remarkable Christmas truce of World War I
In the days leading up to Christmas in 1914, soldiers from all sides began to realize that the war was going to drag on. It was not going to be all quiet on the western front for some time to come. Soldiers had dug into trenches, six to eight feet deep; and fired when the enemy sought to move forward from their own trenches. This trench-warfare of World-War I created a situation of perpetual physical proximity for enemy combatants. The Christmas season triggered off unusual acts of reaching out to the enemy. Soldiers started shouting out tentative intents of venturing out of the trenches. The first ones to believe and keep the faith survived and soon got talking with each other. The initial confidence-building hurdle out of the way, there were spontaneous outbreaks of unofficial ceasefire all along the trenches! The Germans & the British started exchanging Christmas gifts & souvenirs. They recovered & buried dead comrades, lit candles, decorated their trenches, sang carols, and started chatting & bantering. They showed each other photos of dear ones, offered cigarettes, food,…