A Tension Unlike Anything Felt in Decades

As the conflict between India and Pakistan has escalated, with its impact felt well beyond the border in the disputed region of Kashmir, this is the tensest time I can remember since 1971.

That was the year of the last major declared war between India and Pakistan. I was in seventh grade, and I can recall the sirens, the blackouts, and drills — much like what has been happening over the past couple of days.

In those days of intense conflict, the main source of information was a couple of radio stations. People would gather around a radio for accounts of the war, like a dogfight between the fighter jets of the two sides in northern India.