Reality check!!!

Since childhood every one of us has loved super heroes. I remember how I used to rush back home at exactly 12 o’clock to watch fun time (a children’s show on Doordarshan) to watch “HE- Man”. As children we were always told that there exists evil in this world. There are people who were “bad”. They were the biggest and baddest forces on this planet. It is with this mindset, when I watched he-man, I got this feeling that there is somebody who had the power to combat the evil forces. Every time he said “by the power of gray skull, I AM HE MAN” it kind of gave me hope. There used to be this thrill which I used to experience every time I saw that. It was awesome.

But then I grew up. We realized that “bad people” are not someone who wears a hood & has a skull for his head. But it were a group of people who carried guns and who would gain extreme pleasure by inflicting pain on innocent individuals. The came to rescue “G.I Joe”. Come to think, now I wonder sometimes how could it be possible. Those things were so unrealistic. Otherwise how could a handful of guys fight against a whole battalion of bad guys and come out victorious. But yet I saw, I enjoyed and I cherished every moment of it. Then there was fad of teenage mutant ninja turtles. Four turtles with skills of ninja fighting against terror and terrible shredder. Again load of unbelievable crap but yet I enjoyed it.

Then soon in the process of growing up, you realize that it is not exactly those gun wielding people who are the biggest threat. There were bad people all around you. People whom we interact on a daily basis. People who lacked the so called morals and who were ruthless enough to think of “oneself alone”. That entire thing about doing good for others …is not always true. There is a façade to everything that you encounter. You begin to feel that the basic human relations like friendship, trust, respect, honesty are all illusions. But then we have rocky, Driven, Patch Adams, Men on honor. Rocky fighting to avenge his friend’s death and getting nearly killed in this process, A black guy becoming the first navy diver, A doctor who sacrifices his entire career and fortune to work for the upliftment of the poor people. One is again smitten by these characters.

Why does this happen? Why do people actually believe all these stories? Why are they highlighted to the world. How can such things ever happen in a world like ours. Do such people really exist. Do we know anyone who would go out of his way to help us, no man. The lies, deceit, dishonesty and selfishness has grown to the extent that every action of a human being is scrutinized. People lack the basic ability to trust. Everyday you read newspapers, hear the news channels & all that happens is ,you keep loosing faith in the very virtues on which human life is based. Suspicion is at the peak. It has become a fad to talk about doing selfless service, but the number of people who actually get down to doing such stuff are very few. And the other people who don’t necessarily have the guts to indulge in such activities only sympathize with them but donot make any efforts to help them.

But then we look at these characters. They help me believe that the utopian society that the world keeps talking about ( and only talking ) does really exist. When you watch such things it gives you hope. It is a kind of self gratification. Everytime you see an evil doer being punished, we gain a sense of satisfaction. We for a few moments begin to believe that there is hope. We enjoy the sense of security that it renders to our heart. It gives us a glimpse into the world that we dream of. A world where there isn’t any evil. Where goodness rules. Where there is absolutely nothing that can go wrong. The world where evil doesn’t even remotely come close to.

Everytime you see the good guy who lives by the virtues that we talk about win, we think “yeah it is possible.. No it is not necessary that good boys have to finish last”. Everything in reality is screwed up. But yeah we can make it happen. Yes the virutes still exist. No the paradise is not lost. We can still hold our ground in today’s world. No we can still make it happen. So guys now it is time for me to watch the next episode of heroes.check it out. Peter patrelli and Partman are off to save the world from Silar.

Cya when I come back to reality !!!