Ever thought of how many different types of walls exist? A wall is never ‘just’ a wall. It always means something.
Let me illustrate…
Defensive Walls: (Fight, Protect)
● Great Wall of China, the world’s longest wall in Northern China.
● Great Wall of Gorgan, the 2nd longest wall in the world, in North Eastern Iran.
Religious Walls: (Believe)
● Like the Wailing Wall or Western Wall, an important Jewish religious site in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Memorial Walls: (Commemorate, Serve)
● Like the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial, a national war memorial in Washington D.C., USA.
Dividing Walls: (Mine & Yours)
● The Old City of Jerusalem is a 0.9 sq km walled area divided into four quarters — Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish.
Connecting Walls: (Bond, Bring Close)
● Like those that connect rows of homes with each other.
Walls of Massacre: (Murder)

● Like those in Jallianwala Bagh, a garden in Amritsar, India, where in 1919, British Indian Army soldiers fired on unarmed civilians.
Boundary Walls: (Distance, Do Not Enter My Space)
● a. The Border Wall between Mexico and the United States.
● b. The India-Pakistan Border.
Walls With Ears: (Hmm… I’m Listening)
● How else do you think Sushila Aunty from next door knows what music you like!
Load-Bearing Walls: (Tension, Stress)
● Those that hold roofs and the rest of a building over our heads.
Walls With Eyes: (I See You)
● Like those of a home that has witnessed intense pain, mental or physical brutality.
Decorative Walls: (Beauty)
● Like 3D wall paintings.
Message Walls: (Understand Me, Know Me)
● Walls that display graffiti, social networking message walls, advertisements, and inscriptions.

Needless to say but I’ll say it anyway, walls intrigue me. (Yes I know the strangest of things do, get used to it!!)
So many different kinds of walls, yet a ‘wall’ is always given a negative connotation. I wonder why!
Despite being of various types, I feel that all walls have certain common characteristics…
1. Stoicalness – A wall will not break without a fight.
2. Universal Language – All walls speak the same language; their presence is understood without explanation.
3. Responsibility – Every wall takes on a responsibility and remains accountable for as long as it exists.
Think about it… aren’t walls so much like human beings?
Walls convey, talk, fight, deceive, protect, believe, commemorate, serve, separate, bond, murder, create distance, listen, have stress, see, witness, are beautiful or not, are responsible, take care of and need to be taken care of, and want to be known and understood.
One structure and such a plethora of attributes.
Just like you and me.
Human beings created walls and these inanimate structures have learnt to be so articulate and eloquent. They speak our language and convey our emotions. Isn’t it amazing how a simple thing like a ‘wall’ can portray so many human traits?
So…….. let me be a wall.