When World War 3 was about to happen

Life at Lovely Professional University felt very different at the start of May 2025. The usual noise of classes and laughter in the university corridors turned tense. News of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan showed up on our phones every few minutes. Political issues that had previously seemed far away now felt sensitive, almost personal. On campus, everyone was talking about the soldiers, the border, and potential future occurrences.

As someone from Udhampur, a district in Jammu and Kashmir not far from the border, the situation hit me harder. This situation was more difficult on me as I am a resident of Udhampur, a district in Jammu and Kashmir, which is not very far away on the border. My phone continued to buzz with messages at home, my parents telling me to remain calm, friends updating me on troop movements and security restrictions. Each beat of my phone had sent a shudder through my heart. I was attempting to study, and yet I was thinking of the walks I had known when I was a child, of those people, of whom I had grown fond, and of that peace that ever appeared to be suspended on a slender thread.

I was finally tempted to go home. The ride between Phagwara and Udhampur seemed to be more distant than ever. The streets were not as active and the trains were not as busy but were full of prayers. Each checkpoint recalled that peace could be so weak and that it takes great amounts of courage to see how soldiers have to stand up when the rest of us are safe at home. I arrived home and found my parents with the relieved looks on their faces. The embrace in the doorway was like the breath of freedom after being in the world too long.

During those times, the conflict between two countries was not merely a matter of territory and political aspects, it was a matter of feelings- fear, hope, pride, and the desire to be relaxed. I felt how easily we can be shaken in our day-to-day lives, but I also felt resilience in the hearts of people in their faith in peace, and in the silent strength of those who will still live despite fear.

Today, several months later, when I look back, I understand that this time taught me a lot. There might be an increase of conflicts, change of leaders, yet the burden of peace rests on the shoulders of the common of the common; students, parents, soldiers and citizens. It helped me to value the advantage of stability, privilege of studying freely, and the significance of border empathy.

The tensions might have gone by, yet the lessons exist. Whenever I listen to the national anthem, or look at the tricolor fluttering in the wind, I recall those days, then the world seemed to be in doubt, but hope was still there in the heartbeat.

Keywords- Conflict, India and Pakistan, Operation Sindoor,