My SUPERHERO

Everyone has got superheroes. My childhood superhero was Batman. I liked the fact that he was a superhero without any super powers. And his collection of gizmos was mindblowing, not to forget the Bat-mobile. And he was also RICH, filthy rich. It was wonderful - growing up as a kid. It was then that I set my goals for life:

1) Become filthy rich.

2) And attain the power to fight evil.

"A powerful, rich businessman with a secret Black Army to fight evil and teach every bad man, a lesson."- That's who I wanted to be.

But, somewhere down the line, the kid in me died. Or as they say, I grew up. I was now treading the beaten path. I did decently well in College, joined Deloitte, a great company to start my career. Although I am paid well, the possibility of maintaining a secret Black Army now seems distant. But I didn't care anymore. My only goal now - to be better than my peers.

Portraying a "flawless personality" became part of life, even if it meant fooling myself at times. Now I admired Jack Welch for his business acumen, Donald Trump for his branding and Steve Jobs for everything he means to Apple. The latest addition to My Heroes list is someone I met an year ago. He has a charismatic personality and is a brialliant writer, which makes me admire him even more. And after I read an ultra-brief biography of his phenomenal growth in the corporate world, he instantly became my role-model. He was who I wanted to be. And he is:

(For those of you who can't recognise him - he is Parag Saigaonkar, the Regoinal Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting - R10.)

I admire every single Hero on my list because each one is special in their own way. Yet, (no offense intended) none of them ever came close to Batman. While all of them have set some benchmarks in my life, I never have the connect with any of them the way Batman did. It's something like this. I greatly admire multi-talented Farhan Akhtar but I would myself never take up acting, singing or directing to match him. Maybe the fault lied in me. Maybe, I should blame it on the fact that I had become "tough" and "independent".

But 3 years ago, I met someone who changed my life forever in a way I never thought it would. HE was the main reason for me to decide on joining the Hyderabad office of Deloitte rather than the Mumbai office. And I can tell you that in the last 1 year, he has steadily grown up to match Batman on My Heroes list. Infact, as against the fictious Batman who made my dream of my future, he is teaching me to LIVE my present. He is clearly my SUPERHERO and you have guessed right, if you had guessed that my Superhero is none other than:

Advaith - my 3-year old nephew. There is just so much to learn from this little guy.

If I had to list the things I learnt from him, they will be:

1. Have a passion for life; and carry so much energy into every single day of your life that it infects others.

2. A smile is your single greatest asset. It can win hearts in seconds.

3. Dream big: Advaith's dream is to go to California in their car to get some more toys. Once he started on his bicycle to meet Nikhil (a friend of mine). Silly they might sound now, but the innocence coupled with big dreams is an amazing combination.

and the list would go on. I could probably have written an entire book if only I could put everything into words. A video documentary about my Superhero should be a better idea.

Infact, I would be honest and tell you that I went through numerous ups and downs over the last year. There were quite a few moments of near-depression. But everytime I felt low, I would go to my nephew and he would cheer me up in no time. Maybe all my friends would have listened to me patiently but none of them could have brought me back to normalcy so quickly.

But if you really want to feel what I'm trying to convey, you will have to grow up with a kid, as a kid. Only then would you learn from them, rather learn from your past - because we all were just like this when we were 1-3 yrs old. Trust me, its simply amazing.

My nephew has now begun going to the school. So, I guess from now on I will learn how "Education" and "Society" ruined me.

Infact, a year ago, one of my friends asked me to define Happiness and I said:

Happiness: a feeling when u feel on top of the world.. generally felt as a sense of accomplishment and success..

Success: when you have done something that makes others jealous of u.. then u have achieved success in that thing

Peace, as in mental peace: permanent memory loss :P so that u forget all ur probs

But today I would say, Happiness is a totally independent feeling by itself and it has got nothing to do with anything else. Infact, it should be the other way round. Success is having learnt the art of staying Happy forever.

And my 2 cents on this: Everyone has got a SUPERHERO and he is the 2-yr old in you. And the day the kid in you died, you have practically stopped living.