We men should accept an important fact. In the last decade the role of women in our society has emerged from within the confines of the household to contributing in all walks of life. And I am not talking of just urban women. Microfinance owes its success to rural women entrepreneurs not only in India but across the world. The last decade has produced more women sportswomen in India than ever before. Indian women are performing better than their male counterparts in fields such as boxing, athletics, badminton etc. Even bollywood films which has long been banking on the ‘Superstar’ status of male heroes for box office success, is undergoing change. Today leading ladies are beginning to command an equal share of role and payments compared to male heroes.
So we too as boyfriends, husbands and partners in our own way are making the necessary adjustments to promote our leading ladies. As it turned out to be, it was the ‘women’s day out’ last weekend. The ‘boys’ were left to do the household chores, run the errands and babysit. I decided to help my friend babysit his five year old son. It was fun to start with, but as minutes turned into hours our patience was tested to the hilt. The mindless non-stop banter of cartoon channels and the barrage of questions which we had to answer was needless to say just plain torture. As our enthusiasm ebbed and desperation levels increased a question was thrown open to the both of us, “What do you mean by a hero?” My friend, who looked completely defeated by now replied, “Oh it’s like Spiderman, Superman, Chota Bheem”. The kid came back with the next question, “Dad, are you a hero?” Though my friend was momentarily taken aback by the question, he did his best to defend his father image and to portray himself as the ‘next big thing’.
Though the questions were asked with a lot of innocence, they have a deeper essence. What do we really mean by a hero? Who is a hero to us? A dictionary check revels the following – one who is admired for his achievements and noble qualities; one who shows great courage; an object of extreme admiration. It simple words it translates into someone who is a role model for us. We draw inspiration from our heroes time and again and try to emulate them. When were kids, mythological and cartoon character were our heroes; in our teens it was our teachers and rock stars; and when we went to university and got more mature and began to understand the world a little better our heroes too evolved. Every generation has its own heroes and fortunately for us we can point to many. But then who will be the ‘heroes’ for our kids?
Looking around I do not see many. The next generation will never connect with our heroes. Let’s be honest. How many of us can really connect to say the concept of Gandhism? Our history lessons have taught us well and we do accept and acknowledge the sacrifices Gandhi made for the country. When his concepts are so difficult to practice even for us in daily lives, for the next generation it will be nothing less than a utopia. The relevance of Gandhi and Gandhism is quickly diminishing in a ‘modern India’ where Mark Zuckerberg is probably more identifiable. Politicians as role models are something that is not even worth a mention. With the number of corporate scandals occurring by the second the concept of entrepreneurs and business leaders as worthwhile role models is becoming laughable. Same goes for sportsmen whose achievements are getting tainted by drug abuses and off the field scandals. Where do we then look for the next set of emerging heroes?
Probably the answer lies in the question, “Dad, are you a hero?” Though my friend tried to portray himself as one, in reality probably he is. In fact we all are in our own ways! We have breakfast with corruption scandals and inflation, lunch with bomb scares and have dinner with murder stories. The uncertainty that we face today has probably never existed in the entire history of mankind. I am not trying to paint the picture of ‘big bad world’ but as common men these are the facts of our everyday lives. Yet we somehow live through them, get to work, make our money, keep our family happy and continue with our daily lives. We live in constant optimism and hope. At our own level we try and create a better society. We show courage in adversity and our will to survive is next to none. Is this not the stuff of heroes? Every hero fights through adversity, exhibits exemplary character and makes the society a happy and safe place. Are we not trying to do the same thing? The next generation will not have just a handful of heroes but 1.2 billion people to look up too! Each one of us is the next breed of super hero. The faster we begin to believe that the better path we can show the next gen.
“Dad, can you fly like Superman and punch a dragon like Chota Bheem?” As I heard that question I couldn’t help but start laughing
