For years, wars in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Vietnam, and elsewhere reached Kerala only through television screens and social media debates. They were tragedies we witnessed from afar. But the escalating crisis around Iran has changed something. Suddenly the Strait of Hormuz, global oil routes, and geopolitical tensions are no longer abstract ideas. They are entering our homes—through something as simple and essential as cooking gas. When war reaches the kitchen, it forces us to rethink the illusion that distant conflicts have nothing to do with our everyday lives. W hen War Enters the Kitchen: From Distant Headlines to Empty Gas Cylinders For years, wars across the world have arrived in Kerala as images, headlines, and hashtags. Afghanistan. Vietnam. Ukraine. Iran. Each of these conflicts dominated global conversations at different moments. Sitting at the southern tip of India, Kerala has largely watched them from a safe distance. We discussed them in drawing rooms and classrooms, debated...