23/06/2025

MONDAY | JUNE 23, 2025

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Living the moment in a fragile world T HE phone call was impulsive – almost desperate. My dear friend was leaving for Australia and I had been postponing our meet happen. Life can be so unfair and unpredictable.” Just before this came news of horror in Malaysia – a road accident that claimed 15 youngsters in a single, senseless moment. My anger boiled over – at the driver, the bus owner and the system that let this happen. spectre of unrelenting death has leapt out of the subconscious to overwhelm a whole nation.” Ű BY BHAVANI KRISHNA IYER

disaster in decades, has sparked calls for accountability. India’s aviation regulator ordered safety checks on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet and investigators from the US and UK are aiding the probe. The black boxes, recovered from the wreckage, may soon reveal whether engine failure, pilot error or something else caused the catastrophe. But no answer will bring back the 270 lives lost. So, what do we do with this awareness? We live. We call our friends. We connect with people around us. We hug our families. We make time for what matters, not tomorrow, but today. The one bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush, as the saying goes. I am done postponing joy, connection or meaning. The world’s tragedies, whether in Ahmedabad, on a highway or in a war zone, remind us that life is too short for “later”. Let us make happiness a default state of being, not a distant goal. Let us live with intention, knowing each moment could be our last and let us hold those responsible drivers, leaders and the systems accountable, so fewer lives are cut short. Because in the end, all we have is this moment, nothing more, nothing less. It is up to us to make it count. Dr Bhavani Krishna Iyer holds a doctorate in English literature. Her professional background encompasses teaching, journalism and public relations. She is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in counselling. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

This is not about despair; it is about clarity. I believe happiness should be our default state, a right we all have so long as we do not harm others. But when we chase joy at another’s expense, the universe has a way of balancing the scales. Call it karma, natural law or simple justice, what goes around comes around. The driver who caused those 15 deaths, the systems that fail to prioritise safety and the leaders who let civilians die in wars, they will face their reckoning, whether in this life or another. Philosophising life this way feels right as living fully in the moment is better than chasing some grand, future plan. The Stoics had it figured out and it is often said we should focus on what we can control, like your actions today and let go of what we cannot, like tomorrow’s uncertainties. Practising gratitude grounds us further, fostering appreciation for the moment’s blessings, however small, and deepens our resilience amid life’s unpredictability as global tragedies remind us. Buddhism’s mindfulness teaches us to savour the present without clinging to what is next. Even existentialists would agree that we craft meaning through the choices we make now, not in some distant, hypothetical future. The Air India crash, the worst aviation

up for far too long. Life, with its endless to-dos and distractions, has a way of pushing what matters to the back burner. But the news of the Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad shook me to my core. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, bound for London, plummeted into a medical college hostel just moments after take-off on June 12, killing 241 of the 242 passengers and crew on board, along with at least 29 people on the ground. There was only one survivor from the wreckage – a stark reminder that life can hang by a thread. The tragedy was more than just numbers; it was about stories. A family of five, moving to London for a new chapter, perished together. They had pushed the moment for too long to a point that it never came. A single mother was returning to her nursing job in the UK. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani was among the victims, his loss mourned across the state. The plane’s tail, lodged in a shattered building, and the charred remains scattered across Meghani Nagar became haunting images of life’s unpredictability. Social media overflowed with grief – from poems, eulogies to raw outpourings of loss. One post captured it perfectly: “It makes no sense why tragedies like these

The details are scarce but the weight of those young lives lost lingers – a gut punch to anyone who hears of it. Life, as I have come to see it, is a tightrope walk and we are all blissfully unaware of how close we are to falling. Across the globe, the Israel-Iran conflict rages on, with civilian deaths mounting amid defensive posturing and denials. While precise latest figures are murky, the pattern is clear where innocent lives are caught in the crossfire of geopolitical games. The Financial Times reported escalating strikes, with Iran’s Arak reactor hit and civilian tolls rising, while leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump trade warnings. These distant tragedies and the likes closer to home remind us of a brutal truth – that tomorrow is never guaranteed. These events forced me to rethink my priorities. I picked up the phone and called my friend, insisting we meet that day. The permanence of “now” hit me hard and today is all we have. The Air India crash, the students’ deaths, the war’s toll, they all scream the same message that life is fragile and we are fools to bank on a future that may never come. As one X post put it: “The

Let us make happiness a default state of being, not a distant goal. Let us live with intention, knowing each moment could be our last.

COMMENT

Unprecedented levels of violence against children: UN FROM Gaza to the Democratic Republic of Congo, violence against children in conflict zones reached “unprecedented levels” in 2024, according to a United Nations (UN) annual report recently. “In 2024, violence against children in armed conflict reached In the report, the UN compiled violations of the rights of children, those aged under 18, in some 20 conflict zones around the world.

In its appendix – a “list of shame” that names those responsible for these violations – a powerful coalition of Haitian gangs was added this year. Their actions include child killings and mutilations, recruitment of children into violence, kidnappings, denial of humanitarian aid and sexual violence. The Israeli armed forces, which were named last year along with Palestinian militant group Hamas, The Palestinian territories occupy the top spot in the dismal rankings, with more than 8,500 serious violations, the vast majority attributed to Israeli forces, including more than 4,800 in the Gaza Strip. This figure includes confirmation of 1,259 Palestinian children killed in Gaza, and the UN noted it is currently verifying information on an additional 4,470 children killed in 2024 in the war-torn territory. Violence erupted there following Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023. The report also calls out Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, where more than 500 children were killed or injured last year. Following the Palestinian territories, the countries where the UN recorded the most violence against children in 2024 are: the Democratic Republic of the Congo (more than 4,000 grave violations), Somalia (more remain on the list. Conflict casualties

unprecedented levels, with a staggering 25% surge in the number of grave violations in comparison with 2023,” according to a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The report verified 41,370 grave violations against children in 2024, including 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 committed previously but confirmed in 2024, the highest number since the monitoring tool was established nearly 30 years ago. The new high beats 2023, another record year, which itself represented a 21% increase over the preceding year. With more than 4,500 killed and 7,000 injured, children continue to bear “the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks”, the report said. There was also a marked increase in the number of child victims of multiple violations to 22,495. “The cries of 22,495 innocent children who should be learning to read or play ball – but instead have been forced to learn how to survive gunfire and bombings – should keep all of us awake at night,” said Virginia Gamba, special representative of the UN secretary-general for children and armed conflict. “This must serve as a wake-up call. We are at the point of no return.”

The report verified 41,370 grave violations against children in 2024, including 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 committed previously but confirmed in 2024, the highest number since the monitoring tool was established nearly 30 years ago. – REUTERSPIC

Rapid Support Forces, which have been fighting in Sudan for more than two years. Also listed again is the Russian army for its actions in Ukraine, where the report records a 105% increase in serious violations between 2023 and 2024. – AFP

Colombian drug cartel Clan del Golfo, which is accused of child recruitment. Colombia in general recorded a significant increase in cases of forced recruitment, with 450 children in 2024 compared to 262 the previous year. Remaining on the list are the Sudanese army and the paramilitary

than 2,500), Nigeria (nearly 2,500) and Haiti (more than 2,200). “List of shame” inductees include Haitian gang coalition “Viv Ansanm”, blamed for a 490% increase in violations, including child recruitment, murders and gang rapes. Another addition to the list is