Speaking strictly from the physical point of view, my fellow 2 on 1 Friday blogger Shackman, is fit to play a super hero any time and I, his side kick who can generate some humour to the fights with windmills that we are likely to encounter. Somewhat like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Shackman however may have a vastly different opinion and to see what he has to say about this topic which he has come up with, please visit his blog.
I grew up straddling two cultures, Indian and British and was in awe of many heroes of both. From the former, Hanuman, Ram, Krishna, Arjuna, Shiva from the vast array of our Gods, Shivaji, Kattabomman etc from our history, and from the latter, Tarzan, The Phantom etc. This fascination lasted till about my mid teens when these were replaced by Indian film heroes and characters from English fiction. Sivaji Ganesan, M G Ramachandran, Chandrababu from the former and The Saint, Mickey Spillane, Sherlock Holmes and Perry Mason from the latter.
Fast forward to my late teens and reality sunk in and it was Super Heroines that I got involved in! The list is too long but some notable ones, Maharani Gayatri Devi, Saroja Devi, Helen, Wahida Rahman and Nutan.
Then a real life heroine came into my life and lo and behold I myself became a hero of sorts in my chosen career. It is difficult to explain without sounding boastful but, it is in my retirement that I have learnt of the number of people who thought that I was a swashbuckling sales person ever ready to lead a team of aggressive salesmen into battle with competition and top management to gain market share and bonuses. That I was like that is now clear to me by the number of people who are in touch with me via the social networks and I often wish that I can simply quit those to get more time to read books rather than posts of WhatsApp and Facebook. Despite considerable pressure from some friends, I have not gone into other sites like Linkedin and Instagram.
So, having myself been a Super Hero of sorts and also having bagged a Super Heroine in real life, where is the scope for Super Heroes or Super Heroines in my world now? My son and daughter in love are both involved in heroic social work and it is heartening for me to see them perform heroic deeds from the sidelines understanding that it is their time in the sun and it is for me to cheer them on to greater achievements.
I really enjoyed the Phantom -good stuff I must say, however, that any windmills you and I joust with better be old, slow and broken down – LOL. But I am game – we’d have some serious fun.
Earlier today I spoke with my college football coach and he commented that the greatest thing he had one in his life was marry his second wife – his first passed away from cancer, He has been with number 2 for 40myears and I said Lynn and I were married 42 and together 45. He simply said than that I knew what he meant and I agreed – just as I know what you mean. Superheroes are everywhere in our live,
Last week, I had the pleasure of two of my friends visiting me. All three of us got married in 1968. Last year, they both celebrated their fiftieth anniversary with their children from overseas coming to join the festivities. Had my wife been alive, we too would have last November. Superheroes are everywhere in our lives indeed.
“a swashbuckling sales person” … Wow ! .. Were you known as the ‘Errol Flynn Wallah’ ? … 😉
Not quite John but, the Indian equivalent!
As a working mother with two children, and a volunteer presenter at conferences, I feel that I had to be a super hero for many years. Now that I am retired (and have been for a few years) I am happy to relinquish that role! I don’t miss it a bit!
To my mind, a Super Hero would be a man who treats women as equals rather than second-class citizens, a man who takes climate collapse seriously and does something effective to stop it, and a man who wants everyone in society to have a decent quality of life instead of a tiny elite hoarding all the money.
Agreed. And there are any number of such super heroes amongst us.