When two elephants fight it is the grass that gets trampled

5 sep. 2026 Essay - UPSC 2026 :- When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled. Both conflict and cooperation are inherent to the human nature. While the need for social institutions created cooperation, the conflicting nature mostly came due to the 'zero-sum game' of political and economical institutions. This zero-sum mindset - that I become powerful, when you become weaker and when you become poorer, I get richer - has caused unhealing wounds to the humanity, but still persists in every aspect of life.

Abusive fights in an unhappy marriage scars the child for life. While the parents suffer the immediate cause, it is the child who loses confidence, empathy and trust in others, for life. Even in the society, the infighting between two groups, sends chills to the other groups. It can be seen most recently in the Kuki-Meitei conflict of Manipur, which has unfurled upto the Nagas of Nagaland, and has displaced more than 6,000 people. And when elephants fight, that is the fight between the mightiest forces, often costs the grass disproportionately. According to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency), more than 1,74,000 people were injured among the Palestinians in the Israel-Gaza conflict. On the same lines, the Russia-Ukraine war has engulfed a very large number of military personnel, and the US-Iran war of 2026 has been the most intense in destruction of critical infrastructure. These wars, started for political dominance, have had cascading effects to every sphere of human life, across the world. According to John F. Kennedy, "mankind must put an end to war - or war will put an end to mankind." The spillover of these wars was felt across the economies, in rising crude oil prices, shortages of LPG even for domestic consumption, sky-rocketing prices of stocks, gold and silver, especially in the developing and less developed nations, which had no contribution in the wars. This fight between the elephants has not only trampled the grass, but has made the whole ecosystem dusty and inhabitable. As per UNEP, environment is the "silent casualty" of wars. Use of Agent orange in Vietnam war caused extensive deforestation and long-term chemical contamination. And the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki remind humanity of the most devastating consequences of unmindful decisions, crushing the 'grass' beneath them. These consequences of the infighting between the elephants remain embedded in the collective memory, across the generations. The wounds of Hindu-Muslim-Sikh killings, during partition of India and Pakistan, are still intact and fresh enough to be manipulated by anti-state actors. The religious wars across the world have been started by few extremist entities, but the brunt has been faced by innocent lives. The 9/11 terrorist attacks contributed to Islamophobia across the world, and large-scale public suffering to the extent that even today, religion plays an important role in visa approval. Amongst the innocent sufferings, women, in particular, have borne the heaviest weight. Be it any kind of war - political, racial, religious, ethnic, military campaign, women have been seen as 'war-prize'. They have been subject to sexual molestation, and in case of infrastructural collapse, the liability to take care of children and the elderly, lies on women. This infrastructural and institutional collapse hampers the health as well as the education of the children. The decades of ongoing war in Afghanistan, caused by greeds of large elephants like USA, Russia and Taliban, has completely crushed the education of the children.

This plight has been brought forward by the author Khaled Hosseini through his books like "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns." "There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but a little childhood." - Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) Unlike the traditional wars, a new kind has emerged in today's geopolitical reality - the corporate rivalry. Tech-giants like Microsoft and Google have been racing fiercely for dominance in Artificial Intelligence. The costs are again borne by smaller startups and consumers, who get biased platforms and very little say in their privacy. All the nations are competing for dominance in AI and space. The early starters like USA and China have become gigantic enough to harness any nation's secrets and crush their overall growth. by starting internal wars and manipulated fights.

Yet, a fight becomes necessary at times. In 'Mahabharat', Arjun wanted to leave the war and even give-up his rights as he had to fight his cousins, teacher and grandfather himself. In those moments of dilemma, Shree Krishna asked him to think above the worldly connections and uphold the 'Dharma'. The war of Mahabharat saw uncountable corpses, treachery and principles sulking to the lowest in killing a teenager like Abhimanyu, but had to be fought for justice and restoration of 'Dharma'. The revolt of 1857 became necessary to relieve from the atrocities of the British Rule. The 'operation sindoor' (2025) became inevitable in the response to heinous terror attacks in Pahalgam. And while the elephants have trampled the grass completely, some fights have resulted in unintended positive outcomes. Military urgency during wars has pushed scientific developments like the development of Penicillin, GPS (Global Positioning system), Turing-Welchman Bombe machine, and others. And war-times have also seen increased in-group social cohesion. Nevertheless, conflicts have always brought destruction. The trampled grass has to be restored with the new, but it takes lot of time and efforts. A country's growth gets highly hampered when it has to spend its resources in rebuilding the infrastructure and compensating human lives, which should have been spent in health, education, research and other developmental projects. Peace has always been a better option. At times, conflicts have been resolved through peaceful negotiations. Mahatma Gandhi had been a promoter of 'non-violence' throughout his entire life and still shook the British empire. A dispute can be resolved through proper communication, mutual respect, compromise and cooperation. Proper dialogue lets both parties think about the losses they are going to incur. And the lessons from the history must be heeded to. And even when all the resolution mechanisms fail and the fight becomes inevitable, the harm to common lives, critical infrastructure and economy must be minimised. Those in power must protect the ones who cannot escape, and do not have the strength to fight. While power is a zero-sum game, it is legitimized only when the powerful take responsibility and accountability. Thus, a mature society must build institutions that can handle disagreements, ensuring they do not become disasters for the powerless. The true measure of governance, therefore, lies not merely in who wins, but who bears the cost.

A country's growth gets highly hampered when it has to spend its resources in rebuilding the infrastructure and compensating human lives, which should have been spent in health, education, research and other developmental projects. Peace has always been a better option. At times, conflicts have been resolved through peaceful negotiations. Mahatma Gandhi had been a promoter of 'non-violence' throughout his entire life and still shook the British empire. A dispute can be resolved through proper communication, mutual respect, compromise and cooperation. Proper dialogue lets both parties think about the losses they are going to incur.