And they say that a Hero could save us...

At times I dream of saving the world, saving everybody around from that invisible force that pushes us into incapacity, one that renders all of us helpless.

This acute imbalance which deems us weak in our own eyes, this needs to be fought against and I feel like saving everybody, not just me, from this asymmetry. But I can’t stop that, can I? I am not a superhero, I am just an ordinary mind among millions of others, vying for his everyday survival.

I reckon, I spoke not just for myself when I uttered these lines. We all have wished to don a cape, at some point in our life, and bring justice to humanity. This isn’t merely a puerile wish that we nurture only in our early years, but something that continues to foster deep within us at varying levels of adulthood, only the characteristics of these desires change from rather vague to a bit more digestible, as we grow. But, yes, we dream on to become a superhero.

In my quest to achieve my childhood dream of becoming a superhero, and in my bid to search for that ingredient which brands somebody a demi-god, I came across Joseph Campbell’s - ‘The Hero with a thousand faces’. The book, in summary, talks about the journey of a superhero. It traces the path of archetypal hero and comes up with a template, famously called the monomyth, which, as per Campbell, is supposedly followed by every superhero, be it in movies or in mythology.

As soon as I discovered this, I wanted to know if I fitted in that ancient formula which has been recognizing superheroes since ages. While, Campbell only reverse fitted the existing legends in his empirical formula, I’m taking a step forward and making a hypothesis that -

If a human entity follows this monomyth in its entirety, then this accomplishment entitles it to be a superhero.

Let’s see, if I can, force-fit, fit myself in here.

THE MONOMYTH

The journey of a superhero begins in the ordinary world and then gradually moves into the special world. As the hero makes his journey, he encounters certain checkpoints in this extraordinary path, the milestones, which when accomplished fully and in the right sense, as per me, lend one a superhero status.  

Status Quo

That is where we start, everything is normal, gradually paced

I could have placed Hour Zero at two places, at the beginning of undergrad or just before postgrad, I chose the latter for it saves me from some extra strain on my brain.

So, I was leading an ordinary life, working regular shifts at Deloitte, and everything was paced gradually, things seemed sorted then.

The electron was in its 1s orbital.

Call to Adventure

The hero receives a mysterious message a mission, a challenge?

It was then, that the idea of changing the monotony of my life hit me. The decision to sit for an MBA exam wasn’t really in the true sense of the word nearly as challenging as some of the other decisions I have taken. But in terms of taking ownership for my own life and manning up to steer myself in a direction away from status quo, is what elevates it to the level of a challenge. This indeed was a call to change one’s life.

Cobb, the idea is incepted.

Assistance

Hero needs assistance, probably from somebody older, wiser

One thing that I have been never short of, in my life, is support-when-needed. And I got plenty of it, from everybody, be it from my teammates in office, my manager, or my friends and family back home; not once did anybody back out when I counted on them. Had it not been for even one of them, I wouldn’t have managed to land up in a B-School, because no matter how much we despise this fabricated world, it is what we wanted and it isn’t easy getting into one.

The force is strong with this one.

Departure

The hero crosses the threshold, from his normal, safe home and enters the special world

I braced myself for the exit and entered the special territory of XLRI. Special? Well, you’d shortly know why!

All my bags are packed and I’m ready to go

Trials

Being a hero is hard work, solve a riddle, slay a monster, and escape a trap

Life in a B-School isn’t the smoothest of things and especially when you’re coming from a rather unstructured and undisciplined scenario it does have the capacity to take its toll on you. Untimely quizzes during lunch breaks to mandatory attendances for 10 pm lectures - these things can lobotomize you completely and render you ineffective for the next day or even week.

Amidst all this, I was in a constant and futile search for sleep, food and personal time.

Ah yes, I was wondering what would break first. Your spirit, or your body?

Approach

Time to face the biggest ordeal, the worst fear

And yet, despite the quizzes and the academic work load it’s not the structure that pushes you in the grind, it’s the deep housed fear that you’re becoming something else that disturbs you the most. The fear of changing as a person, the constant uncertainty of probably undergoing a downward shift that will stain you permanently as a person, the concern that you will slowly be consumed by the system, this is what that gives you relentless nightmares. I had begun thinking too much!

Am I mutating, Hank?

Crisis

This is the darkest hour, the hero faces death, and possibly even dies, only to be reborn

At the beginning of second term, I had been pushed into the corner. The system had overwhelmed me with its alien-ness and cruelty, and add to that a heartbreak. Doesn’t help! Self-doubt begins to creep in at that stage, an enemy that starts thriving off of you, a monster you better not let in when down in a crisis.

Mayday, captain! Mayday!

Treasure

The hero claims some treasure, some recognition, some power

It was here when life took a turn, the crisis was perhaps the singular point around which this mini cycle of my life moved about. It was at this stage that I found solace in my family and friends, people who were with me till now but just not visible for I was blinded by some disbelief and a sense of skepticism.  

I HAVE THE POWER!

Result

Do the monsters bow down before the hero or they chase him? As he escapes the special world

Well, now as I see in retrospect, things do make additional sense. According to Carl Jung, “To confront a person with his own shadow is to show him his own light.”

Everything isn’t fixed for me right now but I am no longer a captive to my darker impulses. I am not free, because we are never free of the hell we are capable of creating in our own minds, but I have redeemed myself from the agony, because I have acknowledged, and therefore tamed and diminished, the dark terror that the Crisis brings to any of us.

I emerged a stronger version of myself from this. Of course, a job helps!

It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me

Return

After all that adventure, the hero returns to his ordinary life

After what has been nothing short of an adventure, curtains finally drew on my college life. It was a potpourri of emotions, I’ve experienced love, I’ve felt hate and disgust, but nonetheless, all of them have etched new memories in my mind.

At the end of the day a place lends to you a part of it, and I believe I too carry a bit of that place with me, right now.

We’re returning to Kansas!

New Life  

This quest has changed the hero, he has outgrown his own life

The past two years have had a huge impression on my life, I’ve learnt to live by people breeding big ambitions, I’ve acquired Zen Skills from people who probably know more about life than me, I’ve also accustomed myself to carve a niche for myself even when people around are building castles for themselves, all without the remotest degree of fuss.

I’ve survived the past two years, partly owing to my low ambition and partly for my ability to at least seize what I deem right for my ability and desire. I hope the promised new life, with all the hullabaloo it has been billed up to, lives up to even half the hype.

It’s a new day, It’s a new world

Resolution

All the tangled plot lines get straightened out

It’s again status quo, but upgraded to a new level. A job makes a difference. And sitting here, typing out these words, I can probably make sense of one or two of those incidents which were full of enigma a few week back. //As Steve Jobs mentioned in his Stanford Address, you can only connect the dots looking backwards//

Stay hungry, Stay foolish

I feel fresh, I feel wise. 

Of course, nothing is quite the same once you are a superhero *wink face*

EPILOGUE

This same story exists across all of human culture, it just keeps getting updated because we reflect our world through symbolic stories of our own lives. And that’s what I have attempted to do here, bring out the most fundamental of stories, one that all of us live on an everyday basis, and wake the superhero amidst us.

We need it, because we need an ideal to strive towards, we need someone to race behind, we need someone to lift ourselves up when we stumble, we need somebody to make us realize that we have no limits, and the simple idea of an everyday superhero accomplishes all of it.

Remember…

“The cave you fear to enter, holds the treasure you seek” – Joseph Campbell

Song for the day:  Audioslave -Doesn't remind me