Peace isn't absence of violence, it is presence of alternatives

Peace is not utopian, and though we all crave it, it must be vibrant and vivacious. We don't want eerie, icy and dead peace of the graveyard

- SUMIT PAUL

Call it a coincidence or something uncanny, but both 9/11 and the International Day of Peace fall in September. The International Day of Peace is observed around the world each year on September 21. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace.

Nine-eleven needs no introduction. It's etched in our collective consciousness as one of the most violent incidents in the annals of human civilisation. Some violent episodes in history become metaphors, like 'Pearl Harbour' and '9/11'.

During World War II, the huge destruction of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese Air Force prompted the US to obliterate Hiroshima and Nagasaki using atom bombs, and in 2001, the famous twin towers of New York were completely demolished on September 11. Both the epochal happenings changed the course of history and humanity.

They also jolted the conscience of mankind and got all of us thinking. The question is: Can violence and retaliatory violence ever be the answer to any issue? Today, we're standing at the crossroads of human civilisation, tormented by ceaseless acts of violence, bloodshed and destruction of precious lives. Wars are being waged in many parts of the world. Violence has become a way of life. It's not the sanctity of human life and existence that appeals to all of us anymore. It's the brutality and savagery of human nature that has become our universal fate.