ALTER EGOS!

Most of us often spend time in becoming what we are not and forget who we actually are. Well, I do not mean by profession but by person. I have comic examples for that, He-man, Spiderman & Superman et al! Taking my favorites it is clear that He-man in his non superhero form is Prince Adams, Spiderman is Peter Parker and Superman is Clark Kent. These three characters are really interesting to speak. No! I would not narrate any episode, but the characters I am talking about.

Peter Parker’s alter ego is Spiderman, meaning Peter Parker when he goes to bed wakes up as Peter Parker but becomes Spiderman when his city denizens are in trouble. I wonder why he wears a mask when he is doing nothing wrong. Why a superhero has to anyway? Superman’s alter ego is Clark Kent. Superman hides himself as Clark Kent and not the other way around. Though Superman hardly has a mask (it is arguable enough that what he conceals and what he doesn’t and what he should or shouldn’t) He-man is from the world of space age and fairy-tale magic. He becomes so from Prince Adam with the only change is in his color and baritone voice.

My curiosity lies in these comic characters. In a way the creators create a form of life that is so believable that as a kid we all (at least I was) wanted to meet them and let them solve our problems or most of the time we wanted to become them. Becoming a superhero would be any kid’s (mostly boys) dream. Why? Well the sense of not being what we actually are is an amazing high. This psychology gets so engraved that as we grow we start identifying that alter ego in many different aspects, such as Profession, the kind of spouse we want, the house we would like to live in or the car we like to buy. How often in our school days (10th of 12th) we have been showered with this question – What do you want to become in life? And now we either would like to chase the alter ego or ask for options or some need more time to identify their alter ego. Or when the right age of marriage comes along – What kind of spouse you would like or when are you getting married? And once again the idea of perfect spouse meant for us backed with poems, people, movies or phrases such as “some one some where is made for you” fuels the thought of chasing the alter ego.

As we grow, the superheroes or alter egos change. The same roles are identified by us in our elders or bosses or colleagues or friends or perhaps media caricatures. Some how we want to set ourselves free from what we are born as. The logic trickles to our appearance too. Many boys (I was one of them too) would like to look like Salman Khan or Stallone or Schwarzenegger so do many girls would love to look like their favorite actresses or models. If not so many would love to become like their icons (read any one like an IPS Officer or Social Worker or Freedom Fighter or some professional whom they admire).

Time & again it is this chase that we some times call life. Chasing alter egos! Life today is all about personal gratification by hook; that is by following a dream or by achieving something in life (just to prove to people around you) or by crook; which could be so selfish that we would like to compete all the way. Alter egos are our never ending nuclear fuel. They could be named as Desires too and as Buddha puts it, “Desires are the root cause of sorrow” we still would love to chase them.

I am convinced with my experience and exposure that no holy book defines life in its perfect sense but the closest it comes is that ‘a cycle that is a chase’ & I would say the chase is chasing our alter ego. Right now I am chasing my alter ego, to become a Scientist and perhaps win a Nobel Prize! Wish me luck! Wish you all luck too. Hope this year all of us come few steps close to our alter ego. Happy New Year!