How heroes are made

Human civilization has repeatedly been marked by heroic people, heroic acts, ideas, etc. Be it Martin Luther king or Nelson Mandela who fought against aparthied, Alan Turing who played a key role in defeating the Nazis in WWII, there has been one common characteristic among them all.

Let's look at the stories of two prominent figures in Indian history and mythology- Ram and Krishna, two of my biggest inspirations.

Ram's era was one where civilization was just being established. The meaning of law was not completely understood by all- meaning people did what they wanted. Of course there was some form of control, but the real understanding about what law is, and why it exists, was not attained by all.

So Ram decided that it was important to make people understand that a law applies to everyone in the nation, be it the king or a peasant. He therefore established rules and followed the established rules, to the letter, which sometimes resulted in some rather rude and cruel actions.

Whenever the example of Ram is taken, the most common question that comes up is about why he demanded an 'Agnipariksha' or a test of her chastity (purity and loyalty) from Sita when she was rescued from Ravana. Some argue that Ram was insecure and thus wanted to prove to their subjects that their queen was still pure. I too used to question this. Then there's something worse that he did later on. He asked her pregnant wife, the mother to the kingdom's future ruler, the love of his life, to go into exile for the second time.

There are two sides to this. One is of course questioning how one can be so cruel to a pregnant woman and queen. But before we question this, we need to understand and appreciate a couple of things. Today, our society has developed to such a stage where we consider this brutal, unnecessary and even barbaric. But the era of Ram was one where large portions of the population lacked the mindset required to question the necessity of such barbaric acts. People were so caught up surviving and making ends meet that they didn't really spend time or effort thinking as much as people do these days.

Besides, we never had the technology to share ideas like we do today. So people were rather narrow-minded and didn't have the opportunity to expose themselves to different opinions from different cultures, etc.

So when living in such an era, it's pretty obvious that one had to give priority to established thinking methods and cultural settings. Especially as a king, it is important to take hard decisions in the national interest. Let's ask ourselves, do we really think people would follow rules and laws set by a king and a queen who can't prove their loyalty to their country? That too back in those days? No. So now let's answer the question. Was Ram's decision to make a hard choice in the national interest an outcome of his insecurity, or a sacrifice made for the larger wellbeing of the people of the empire- this, each one of us has to make for ourselves.

Let's look at Krishna. He is described as the most cunning- be it the battlefield, or the household where his michief and robbery of butter (Makhan Chor) knew no bounds. He made many moves which were against the rules of warfare, as a result of which his side won the war. There is no doubt that his side would have lost had he decided to play by the books, like Ram. This, he did because he knew that even if the Gauravas won, they weren't going to rule in a just manner. So should he play by the book and let them win the war and offer an unjust reign despite knowing that it is going to happen? That's the question he faced in his time.

Of course modern day society is developed enough to understand that wars benefit none. But in the battle of Kurukshetra, all that had to be decided was, whether justice had to be followed on the battlefield, among hundreds to thousands of soldiers, and let the Gauravas win, or be cunning, defeat the Gauravas and ensure a just rule for the entire empire for ages to come. This too, is something each one of us has to decide for ourselves.

The common thing here is that when we identify a purpose which we want to dedicate ourselves to, we have to do what is relevant to that purpose, in a manner that is relevant to the day and age when we live.

If, in the 8th century, you tried to allow women to run the country, it is as impractical as trying to restrict women to the kitchen and household in 2021. Different times require different actions.

Speaking of Ram, the man faced misery after misery in his life. His kingdom was stolen from him when he was a prince, the love of his life- Sita, was kidnapped to another country he never heard of, he was in a politically cornered position to send his wife into exile the second time, and yet he kept his balance through all this.

Being part of a civilization far more established than that of Ram's era, how many people do we know who can go through even one of these things, let alone all of them, and still maintain their balance and composure?

Krishna was nothing less- he was raised by foster parents, merely escaped death right when he was born. He was born blue-black, never had an actual name- people called him Kanha, meaning dark. He had to lead a side into battle, and yet he is known to smile his way through all of this.

That ability to retain composure and stability through anything that life throws at you- that's the essence of a hero and a leader.

My greatest wish is that we create a society where people are able to be such balanced beings. If we create the ambience required for that, then everyone can become heroes. I think humanity can definitely achieve that.