SECTION A
Essay
125 marks
When two elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
This African proverb says that when the powerful clash, the weak who stand beneath them suffer most. The examiner expects the essay to apply it to great-power rivalry, wars and trade conflicts, and also to domestic arenas such as political feuds, corporate battles and family disputes, while asking how the grass can protect itself.
ThesisConflicts among the powerful impose their heaviest costs on the vulnerable, so strategic autonomy, collective voice and institutional protections are the grass's best defence.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Global: wars between major powers raise food and fuel prices in poor countries that had no part in the quarrel
- 2History: Cold War rivalry was fought through proxy wars in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan, devastating local populations
- 3Foreign policy: India's non-alignment and today's multi-alignment are attempts to avoid becoming grass in a superpower fight
- 4Domestic politics: Centre-state or party feuds can stall welfare schemes, hurting citizens who depend on them
- 5Economy: tariff wars between large economies disrupt supply chains, hitting small exporters and workers first
- 6Family: in bitter divorces, children often bear the emotional cost of a contest between two adults
Counter-view
- Some argue the grass is not passive and that small states can profit by playing elephants against each other. The essay should accept this as the real escape: weak actors gain when they organise collectively and bargain, rather than simply wait to be trampled
Open and close
- Open: Open with a wheat trader in a North African port in 2022 watching bread prices jump because of a war being fought thousands of kilometres away
- Close: End by arguing that the grass is safest when it grows together, through alliances of the weak, strong institutions and leaders who weigh costs to the vulnerable
Where marks usually go
- Writing only a GS-2 answer on the Russia-Ukraine war or US-China rivalry without using the proverb's wider social meaning
- Treating the grass as permanently helpless and offering no idea of agency or protection
- Taking sides in a current conflict instead of analysing the pattern of who pays
Examples that fit
- CurrentAfter the Russia-Ukraine war disrupted Black Sea shipments, the UN-brokered grain deal of July 2022 eased food prices for importing countries until Russia withdrew in July 2023.United Nations, Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination Centre
- HistoryThe Korean War of 1950 to 1953, a front in the US-Soviet rivalry, left the peninsula divided and millions of Korean families separated.The Korean War: A History, Bruce Cumings
- HistoryThe Non-Aligned Movement was founded at Belgrade in 1961 with Nehru among its leaders, so newly free nations would not be trampled by bloc politics.Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, NAM background note
- LiteratureThe Stree Parva of the Mahabharata shows the widows of Kurukshetra mourning, a reminder that a war between royal cousins devastated ordinary households.Mahabharata, Stree Parva