Our Superpower is ‘Love’

With all these superhero movies around and them being very popular, it got me thinking about why we are drawn to such movies.

They are a figment of someone’s imagination, someone’s creation of people who cannot actually exist, sometimes in worlds that are completely fictional in nature but what I believe appeals to our mind, apart from the good story lines and all the action, is the ‘hope’ they seem to provide and the clear cut nature of the battle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’

In an un-ideal world, a world where no matter what, the ugliness and hatred seem to always shine through and rise to the surface, superhero movies seem to satisfy our desire to see good win over evil because in real life, it just doesn’t seem possible.

That feeling of frustration and vulnerability seems to come over us every time we see something or hear about something that we are devastated by and cannot control and to be honest, lately, it’s a constant feeling, an ache that never goes away because there is a lot that devastates and a lot we cannot control. In moments like these we can but wish that superheroes were real and their superpowers could help us save the world just one more time.

But I don’t want to give up hope just yet. Though the world looks unchangeable and evil seems to be abounding, more than ever before, I don’t want to give up because I still see that glimmer of hope.

I see that glimmer of hope when I watch a young man rant against the inhumaneness of other young men in a recent sexual assault case that shook the district I live in to the core.  I see that glimmer of hope when I see a political leader wear a head scarf to honour the community that lost their loved ones in a senseless hate attack. I see that glimmer of hope when I hear a young teacher say that she feels deeply responsible for her students and that means she is extra careful when she counsels them because their fate might as well rest in her hands. I see that glimmer of hope when I hear graduating college students talk about their future plans of giving back to the community. I see that glimmer of hope when an artist creates art about love not hate.

I see that glimmer of hope ever so often and as I see it, I realize that we, as humans, do have a superpower. We do have something that can change the world just as our make-believe superheroes do. We have something so powerful, so unique and so wonderful, if we just use it in the right way, for the right things and that superpower is LOVE.

None of us are oblivious to the power of love. The power of love to bring happiness, joy and elation to a degree never thought possible; the power of love to control every thought, action and decision regardless of the sacrifice; the power of love to destroy and devastate in moments out of our control. We know the power of love because we have used it, but only for certain relationships, not all.

But, when love is used as the foundation for anything and everything, when love is the basis for our interaction with the world, we begin to treat every single person, male or female, young or old, from every caste, community, religion or geographical location of the world as a loved one. Those love-coloured glasses change everything, I believe, because just sitting here I can imagine the way the world will work if these glasses were mandatory. Women everywhere would be treated as loved ones and not as objects to satisfy pleasure. Anyone seemingly different from the norm would be embraced without hesitation. Government decisions would be made for the benefit of the people rather than for personal gain. That is the power of love. So many things could change if love was used as the basis for behaviour.

Things won’t change overnight, however, as I’m sure some of you are already yelling at me right now. We cannot force everyone to wear love-coloured glasses, even if I wish with all my heart it was as easy as that. We also cannot believe that one or two people behaving a certain way will change deeply ingrained hatred and evil within a day. But, it is a start. A good start.

The more people make ‘love’ the norm, the more it becomes the norm. And as our beloved superheroes who band together from time to time to fight forces of evil, if we too band together with our collective superpowers of love, we will begin to see a change- one person, one day, one family, one community, one nation at a time.

This is what I believe.