GRWM for war Premium

Amidst the imminent threat of war between India and Pakistan, lies a generation on both sides of the border, who are burnt out, helpless, funny, and frankly, do not want to be bothered with bombs

You and I know that this is a time of national strife. India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 post the terror attack that killed 26 people at Pahalgam, Kashmir on April 22. Visas of Pakistanis living in India have been revoked, and the words ‘escalating tensions’ and ‘security lapses’ cannot seem to escape news copies. Most recently, India banned Pakistani airlines from using its air space, and more stringent action can be expected.

There is an imminent threat of war.

Amidst these escalating tensions (see what I did there), lies a video, of a young man waiting at a courier shop in India. ‘To Hania Aamir, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. From India’, he writes — his package, full of water bottles to the attractive Pakistani actress, in case she runs out as a consequence of the treaty.

War is serious business and nationalists on both sides are upset about how we treat one another, with guns, grief and disrespect. However, if we have been able to observe anything based on the barrage of memes that have surfaced online from both sides of the Line of Control, it is this. Lay Indians and Pakistanis are unserious people. We are burnt out and helpless because of governments, armies and militants. We are hence, doing what we do best — coping with content.

Why else would Pakistanis ask if they needed to bring bags to school on the day of war? Why else would they incessantly troll themselves at the hapless state of poverty in their nation or the fact that their gas supply gets cut off at 9.15pm every night? Why are there fit checks being made in anticipation of bombs?

When Twitter user Man Aman Singh Chhina (with 41.9k followers) writes “Launch missiles on Muridke, Lahore and Bahawalpur bases of Pakistani terrorists. Reduce them to ashes,” Pakistanis are amused about Muridke, part of the ‘International Cities of Peace’ in Sheikhupura district, Punjab, having made it to the list. There are also memes of Indians protecting Atif Aslam and giving him a sip of water as his voice is considered a treasure on both sides.

As I write this, I realise that explaining memes makes them deeply unfunny, but you get the drift.