Is It Easier To Build Guns Than Bridges?

For this issue, we embarked on an epic 2,200-kilometre journey to some of the borders of our oftentimes-volatile northern frontier. Towards the end of the journey, as I stood a few kilometres from the high-altitude Indo-Tibetan border at Shipki La, watching the Indian flag fluttering amidst a backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, I couldn’t help but feel my heart swell with national pride.

But then it got me wondering about the real value of a border – a line in the sand after all! Because I was born in a particular part of this planet, I have a geographical association with the place – therefore its people, and the culture. But does that mean I should care less for people whose beliefs are different than mine? Should suffering on the other side of a border mean any less? Should I only care for the wellbeing of people on this side of a particular mountain range, ocean, plateau, or fence?

Now, these kinds of questions may be a little too heavy for an auto magazine. But in a world where it’s far easier to build guns than bridges, I think these are questions that are worth asking. Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand the practical need to secure our borders. And this journey has made me acutely aware of the incredible job done by our armed forces in conditions that have to be seen to be believed. I salute those who grant me the freedom and security to be able to speak freely. All I’m saying – with an equal amount of naivety and idealism perhaps – is that we’re all in this together.

Why should brotherhood stop at a barbed wire fence? I wish we lived in a world where we didn’t need them... I am a proud citizen of course, but I’m a citizen of the world first!