Super Hero Within

I have always wondered why so many men like Ironman. I have always been the classic Superhero lover; you know the kinds who never tell other people who they are, wear their undergarments outside, have a cape or a mask – the standard stuff.

But as I grew up, I realized why Ironman was so popular. He was out in the open. He had cool gadgets, the babes were all around him – in essence he was what every average Joe wanted to be – rich and powerful and a saviour of the world.

Now I am just one of those average Joes with not much of an education that can help anyone. I mean imagine Godzilla attacks Calcutta. I don’t think the army General at Fort William will turn around to the really hot Wildlife Expert and say, “Get me the best God damned Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management. We need to save the World.”

But then there is a Superhero within everyone of us or so says half of the Marvel Comics in their attempts to impart education and morality. This is that story.

So the other Saturday I had a date with Leela. She had been acting pricey agreeing to meet me only after repeated requests. But finally she relented and I found myself at her residence. But what followed was beyond my wildest imagination.

As soon as I entered her friends accosted me and took me to a nice room, one with a view of the Road. Now in Mumbai if you open your window and do not look into another’s kitchen you can consider yourself to be living in extreme luxury. So I was really impressed and waited. But then perhaps these people had other ideas. I guess they believed that superheroes must have super bodies which they must flaunt, just like Sallu Bhai does.

So one of them looked at me and said, “We need to shave your chest.” And he was absolutely serious. Now, I remember from a discussion from times gone by that the female of our species are divided almost in half when it comes to the matter of facial hair. Half of them like it, others loathe it. But never ever have we discussed male chest hair. So I thought maybe Leela likes it that way. After all, Bandra has strange tastes at times.

And then they started. I was hooked up to multiple sensors and I ran as fast as I could and felt like Ironman, monitors all around blinking statistics that made no sense to me. It felt I was part of a larger scheme of things and the Zedi were testing my endurance. And then it stopped.

And Leela said, “Dude. You’re cool.”

It was a nice long date. And all’s well that ends well I say.

(A Day long visit to the hospital makes the imagination go on an overdrive)