You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." Middle-aged Brahmin scholar was filled with rage against cruel King. He was unable to forget humiliation, he faced because of King's Order. He took vow to overthrow cruel Empire. He even trained a boy to rule vast Kingdom. However, overthrowing the mighty Nanda Dynasty wasn't that Easy.

He along with boy and army tried to capture the Kingdom but time and again they failed. Through self-introspection he realised that it is important to win lots of small battle around the Nanda Empire. He followed this policy, and later overthrew Nanda Dynasty. Thus finally Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta was established and Brahmin was non-other than Chanakya. Thus, through this historical event we have realised how fighting more than one battle is important to finally achieve success. Thus in this essay we are going to explore various perspectives of battles and explore the topic. Firstly, we need to know what is battle. In conventional sense, battle means fighting with enemy state for some mutually conflicting objectives. Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 was a battle, where we had noble ambition to Liberate people of East Pakistan and create Bangladesh. However, meaning of battle can't be restricted to conflict.

In material form, battle can take form of personal goal and ambition. Sonam Wangchuk's protest for obtaining VI Schedule status for Ladakh can be considered material and peaceful dimension of Battle with larger goal of protecting Ladakh's culture and sustainability. Further, Battle can also have spiritual dimension. Here Battle is not against anyone, but between personal conscience and greed. Gautam Buddha fought internal battle to find out solutions to the sufferings of people and later attained Nirvana. Now, we have understood the meaning of battle, it is also important to understand what does winning a battle mean? In narrow sense, winning a battle may mean, achieving goal, fulfilling the National objective etc. For example USA may consider overthrowing Saddam Hussein meant winning the battle. U.P.S.C. However, winning a battle can't be restricted to narrow victories. Winning a battle should mean overall societal good and Justice to individual's cause. For example, for Indian government, winning battle isn't limited to creating Toilets under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, but also to achieve Open Defecation Free Plus status and to enhance social outcomes.

Winning a battle may sound astonishing, but it isn't as simple as we perceive. We may have to fight tons of battles to win the war. Here usage of battle and war shouldn't be seen in literal sense but in broader sense. Fighting a battle for Social Justice, may sound Noble, but is often resisted by conservative section of society. Thus it requires multiple battles. Dr BR Ambedkar fought many battles like Mahad Satyagraha, Temple Entry Movement, Advocation for Separate Electorates for Dalits, but later won war after creating Constitution which not only ensures Justice for SC & ST but fulfills larger goals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity Similarly, fighting multiple battles, also can be witnessed as fight for democracy and citizens' rights. Arab spring was fought at multiple fronts and time to ensure democratic transition in countries like Tunisia. Further, fighting a battle doesn't mean just coercion to achieve objective, multiple battles need to be fought at ground level, society level as well as ideological level. For example, reduction of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir is not only because of military action, but also by fighting battle to ensure winning hearts and minds of people. Operation Sadbhavana by Indian Army encouraged interaction of Kashmiri youth with Army. Apart from this, winning multiple battles moves around our spiritual self. Ethics can be understood as knowing what is right and what is right thing to do. Person may have to fight multiple internal battles with greed, Power, Lust to pursue Prudence, Fortitude etc. In this materialistic spiritual dimension along with Psychological dimension is far more important. IPS Narendra Kumar fought multiple internal battles. He could have thought to not resist illegal sand mafia, but he courageously stood in front of them and even gave his life for Just cause.

At the same time, if we would look at Environmental dimension. As per recent reports world has already crossed 1.55°C above Pre-industrial levels. It is also expected to reach 2.5°C to 2.9°C by 2100. Government of India is looking this war as a battles at multiple fronts. Government has introduced Life Style for Environment. But battle isn't limited to this, we have advanced Electric Vehicle mobility, Ethanol Blending targets, Nuclear Energy, Green Hydrogen Mission etc. At the same time, we have also advocated Climate Justice and Common but differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities. Thus we are ready to fight multiple battles to win war. Now, we need to ensure other side of the coin too. We may have realised How to win battle and multiple perspectives of battle and war. But is every battle worth Fighting? This issue may have diverse perspectives, One may say withdrawing from battle may be act of cowardice, we need to maintain perseverance to win the battle till the end. However, if we look at larger picture, fighting every battle may result in excess drain and may sometime become counterproductive. For example, giving entire 20s in UPSC exam may seem exciting at once but may be counterproductive. Skills acquired during UPSC preparation may be used in other areas like Corporate, Public Policy, NGOs etc. Further, some battles are naturally bad, but may seem good in short term. For example, son of labour, fought battle to buy I-phone despite vulnerable condition of family. These battle may seem counter-productive and may even harm one-self. Further, in literal sense, all battles needs to clearly examined before fighting. Battles like Gaza war is not battle but genocide.

Nations should follow the principle of Just War to fight any battle that too as last resort. Moreover, sometime withdrawing from battle is even better in long term. Some may have considered Gandhi's withdrawal from Chauri- Chora as act of cowardice but in long term in became ignition point of long peaceful social revolution against Foreign rule. Now, we have covered various perspectives of topic. We have to gain wisdom to know that which battles are worth fighting and which isn't. Further battles which are worth fighting requires battle at multiple fronts. Fighting a battle may never be easy but right cause, faith and internal perseverance may ensure that we may keep on fighting and succeed as Chandra Gupta Maurya did after defeating Nanda.