Lounge Fiction Special 2025: ‘Training’ by Gogu Shyamala

She looked at her watch; twenty past nine. She had the time to stop at the chai shop next to the school. Probably the best way to escape her scurrying thoughts. She heard her phone’s ringtone calling out to her from inside her bag; she took it out to see it was her dear friend Geetha calling—Ah! There is no escape from war after all!

“Hi, Geetha!"

“Hi, Shanti. Are you at school?"

“I am on my way."

“Not to disturb, I just wanted to update you about our project, ‘War and Peace’. A lot of people have sent us their poems. I am waiting for a few senior writers to send their work as well; they should be in my inbox by this evening. I wanted to remind you about your contribution as well. As the editors of this anthology and as poets ourselves, it would be great to have our work—Anand’s, yours and mine—be part of this collection."

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“Of course, I remember. How could I forget? Even if I want to, the world is constantly waging war. The world is engulfed in gloomy smog after a deafening explosion. It begets meaningless, helpless and desolate violence. My lesson today on war and our anthology on war have led me to look at the horrific images of people stuck in war. It feels like I am at war with myself researching this topic," said Shantipriya.

“Hmm, interesting. I have asked you to write a poem, not just say it to me over the phone… Please send it to me on WhatsApp by tomorrow." Geetha ended the call.

Why doesn’t she think this is serious? How does one write a poem about war? Does it have to be scary and revolting? Shantipriya stopped as though something struck her. Well, it should just be readable and easy to understand, especially to those who are terrified of war.

She stepped into the staff room, sat down and closed her eyes to take in a long breath. She tried to review the lesson she was about to discuss with the Grade 8 class. She took the lesson plan from her bag and scanned it carefully.

When she set foot in class, she noticed that the students looked fresh and energetic even though it was the second hour. Some were chasing the others, while one boy was trying to get everyone’s attention by singing out loud. Seeing the teacher enter, they rushed helter-skelter to their seats—“Good morning, teacher!" in unison.

Shantipriya responded to the students’ greetings and asked, “How is everyone today?" and continued, “Please open your notebooks, children, today we are going to learn about war."

She took out a piece of chalk to write WAR on the blackboard. “Have you ever witnessed a war? Have you at least heard about it? Can you recount the names of a few wars that happened in the past? What were the instances where you have heard about wars? Think of the wars from the past along with the ones in the present. Quickly note down the ones you remember in your notebooks."

“Yes, we have heard about it," said most students.

“Why don’t one of you stand up to share?"

A student from the first bench stood up: “The Sepoy Mutiny during British rule."

Mohammad Waheed from the bench behind went, “We have heard of the Kurukshetra war in the movies, haven’t we?"

“World War I and II and the ongoing war between Palestine and Israel," piped up Navta, also from the first bench.

“Our country was attacked several times by Aurangzeb," called Nithin from the last bench.

“Very good," said the teacher to encourage them further. “But children, do you read newspapers daily or keep up with important news on social media? Do you know anything about the current war?"

The students looked at each other in silence.

Oh no, I seem to have caught them off guard. That’s not my intention. I should encourage them to talk freely.

“Okay, don’t worry about it, students. Don’t think that I know more than you about this topic, in fact I don’t know much. I think there is a book on each of the wars. It is not necessary that everyone would know everything about the wars that have taken place before. But let’s make an attempt to discuss and put our points forward. Nobody is going to judge us here. If you tell me something I don’t already know then I will learn something new."

This reassured the students and smiles emanated from their faces like blooming flowers.

“Teacher!" Nithin raised his hand. “I want to say something! My father… The other day when my father was reading his newspaper, I overheard his conversation with my uncle about the poor Palestinian children. When I went closer to see the newspaper my father was showing my uncle, both of them said — Don’t look! — and moved away. I was so intrigued that I managed to secretly look at the paper when my father was away. It was frightening to see an image of a dead boy whose face emerged from the ground." Nithin’s eyes welled up and he couldn’t continue as the sorrow from his heart rose up into his throat.

A dark layer of sadness engulfed the classroom with everyone’s faces reflecting their broken hearts. Shantipriya was surprised to see this.

How are children so affected and involved?

“It’s true that for the past few months a surge of news and images of war surrounded us. It has been unbearable to watch the distressing war since last October. Yet it is your responsibility to be aware of these events that take place worldwide. You are free to express any thoughts regarding this." Shantipriya tried to shift the dejection of the class toward discussion.

“But what is war, teacher?" said Waheed as he stood up with a raised hand. “Is it similar to how it is in the movies? With military tanks, soldiers and explosions? And we do enjoy these films, don’t we? Just like the video games with war themes. It’s very stimulating and entertaining. The problem…"

“If that’s the problem, why are we playing these games? Why do we pressurise our parents to buy us war-related toys like tanks and guns?" interrupted Ghani Rao from behind.

Everybody looked behind in agreement. This lightened the mood of the class.

“Why do they sell these toys in the first place?" said Rubina Fathima who was sitting in a corner of the first bench.

Everyone found this amusing and a chitter ran through the class.

This took an interesting turn, Shantipriya thought. She looked at her watch. We have 30 more minutes; let’s see what these students bring up.

She noticed that Vishnu in the second bench looked distracted, unlike other students who were talking to one another.

“Silence please! Let’s hear from the others now. Vishnu, do you want to say something?"

Vishnu stood up, “Yes, teacher."

He continued: “Do you know how costly these toys are? Last week I wanted to buy a gun which was ₹20 but I only had ₹19 with me. I asked the shop to give it to me for 19 but, no. I begged, promising to pay the remaining one rupee later but to no avail. Do you know who the toy shop belongs to? Waheed’s family. None other than him. His elder sister was at the shop but she didn’t budge. Just because I was short of one rupee!" At this point everyone burst into laughter.

Looks like the discussion is deviating.

“Vishnu! You are right, my sister is stingy! You should come to the shop when I am around, I will give you the gun," announced Waheed.

Shantipriya heaved a sigh of relief. These students are great, she thought, they found a solution for the problem with an open conversation without resorting to violence.

“Students, do you understand the significance of this discussion so far?"

She heard “Yes, teacher" and “No, teacher" all at the same time.

“In modern times, we have seen the United States of America’s devastating atomic bombing of Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This happened in 1945, towards the end of the Second World War, leading to catastrophic deaths in lakhs. Later, the same America went on to attack Vietnam, followed by missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan. We are currently witnessing the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas war."

“Teacher…" Beerappa raised his hand.

“Yes? Please go ahead."

“After looking at what’s happening in Gaza, I feel like wars are not needed but why are they happening, teacher?"

“Good question. To put it simply, animosity between two countries leads to war. The reason could be related to border security or weapons. Sometimes violation of prior agreements leads to war, especially when they couldn’t be resolved through peaceful discussions. It is important to note that international organisations like the UN, NATO and other human rights organisations play a vital role in fostering international cooperation and prevention of war."

“If these organisations are in place, why are these wars happening?" a student asked as though the thought suddenly occurred to him. “Innocent people and animals lose their lives—not just from the defeated country but also from the winning one."

“How do we define victory?" came a voice from behind.

“Yes," another student chimed, emphatically.

“I remember my father told me that when our country was celebrating independence, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were distressed with the attack on them," said Navta. “Can you tell us more about those cities?"

“What happened to the trees, animals, lakes, mountains," asked Rahul.

“The attack had a lasting effect—the ones who survived had to endure long-term hazardous health conditions like leukaemia and thyroid cancer. It even had an impact on expecting mothers, leading to disabilities in newborns. We are witnessing the same mayhem in Gaza now." Shantipriya paused to take a breath and then continued—.

“The future of Gaza and its people could be seen as reflected in the past of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There is no end to this but I am not saying this to scare you. Please remember that I am making you aware of the destruction that wars bring. It is important to remember that these very nations that were once at war with each other are now on friendly terms and have a peaceful exchange of technology." Shantipriya observed the students as she said this.

“How would it be if the famous animation filmmaker Osamu Tezuka made a film on Elon Musk?" quipped Venkat Yadav as he arched his eyebrows in anticipation. The rest of the students exclaimed in amazement.

“Great idea! That’s right, this could be one way to develop cordial relationships between nations," responded the teacher.

“If war is so dangerous, why do we use the word so often," asked Margaret, who hadn’t said a word so far.

“Interesting question. Why don’t you tell us where we use the word?"

“So many times. Teacher Saraswati always refers to exams as war while motivating us to do well." Margaret looked up, trying to remember more instances.

“Yes, teacher. I have seen my father, who works in farming, where the supervisor provokes them to work faster like one is at war," said Arundhati who was sitting next to Margaret.

“That’s true. While implementing government schemes or during national and international games, people say —Practice like you are in a war," said Badreshwar. “Even when the government is planting trees , it proposes to do so on a war footing."

“In fact, isn’t war destroying trees?" queried Arundhati.

The students waited for the teacher’s response.

“Please don’t assume that I am being inconsiderate here; I want you to hear me out and understand. War is a matter of life and death and it requires one to be vigilant. It is in the same spirit that war is invoked. But I do agree with you all that it is not accurate to use something as violent and destructive as war for farming and planting. The former is brutal while the latter is life-giving."

The third bell rang and students started applauding. “Thank you, students. I will meet you again tomorrow."

Shantipriya stepped out of the classroom. She had her poem.

Translated from Telugu by Divya Kalavala.

Gogu Shyamala is a writer and an independent scholar from Telangana.

Divya Kalavala teaches English literature and writing courses at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal.

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