Each day brings more mention of hateful acts in the name of avenging the deaths of the CRPF jawans who lost their lives in Pulwama. The evacuation of Kashmiri students from hostels. A random explosion in the suburbs. A hotel sign saying 'Kashmiris not welcome'. Random gatherings of intoxicated men at our street corner saying they will go "up to the border", adding after a pause "if need be". But 'need be' never happens for any of those who insist on blood, does it? War has been a video game for people who do not actually fight in it long before video games were invented. This proxy violence finds new forms today.

Need is however a big part of why people join paramilitary services — economic need. (My father joined the Air Force when his father's death compelled him to give up on medical school. He also lost an eye in the 1965 war, but I never heard him speak vengeful words.) None among the militant patriots in my acquaintance — maybe there are others — want their children to become jawans. But let's not get personal. Let's assume they really care. It's just puzzling how this caring manifests when jawans die but is not much in evidence while jawans are serving their duty.