Anupam- The Dreamer

In the legendary Marvel movie Spiderman, the protagonist Peter Parker, after being bitten by a genetically modified spider, suddenly realized that he has acquired some supernatural powers. He notices some drastic changes in his body, like increased muscular strength, improved eyesight, ability to crawl up walls etc etc. But, what is most astonishing is his ability to eject spider webs from his wrist and hang in like spiders. But he doesn’t want to reveal his identity to the world, lest it will affect his normal life. So, he puts on a mask of Spiderman and goes out in the world doing crazy things. At that point of time, Uncle Ben (with whom Peter Parker was living) after realizing that Peter has changed drastically, tells him one important lesson- “With great power comes great responsibility”.

But Peter Parker doesn’t quickly and deeply understand the import of the important advice given by Uncle Ben. It is only after the tragic death of Uncle Ben in a shooting incident, the Spiderman realizes that his power came with great responsibility and he makes the advice given by his uncle as his “life mission”. He then goes on to do altruistic superhero tasks of saving women from getting robbed, saving the city from the woes of Green Goblin (the supervillain), and many more umpteen such daredevil tasks even at the peril of  his own life. But, one thing stands out amidst all this machismo of Spiderman- that he never used his power for illicit purposes. Even, the Spiderman turned down the nefarious offer given by Green Goblin, to be friends with evil and take advantage of the world together.

In the world, whenever you look out people hankering for power, you will notice two behaviours in general. One who want to use this power for selfish and ill-intentioned objectives, and the other who want to use this power for the benefit of society at large while rising above own selfish interests. And with each passing day, the realization grows stronger that the power is indeed a double-edged sword. For the ones who want power for their selfish and ill-intentioned objectives, I request you to please stop reading this article right now, and save your precious time on something important! And for the others who are still interested, just remember what Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker.

Power you see, is a double-edged sword. If you use it judiciously, it can reap you a number of benefits. But if you don’t, then it can cut you as well. Take an easy example to understand. If you have a knife, you can either use it in the right way to make life simpler by using it to cut vegetables and fruits. But, if you don’t use it well, it can also cut your finger and bleed you. If you want a sharper knife, then you must act more responsibly to use it, because a sharper knife yields more power, at the same time it also possesses more power to cause self-damage. That was the message of Uncle Ben. Either you shouldn’t want more power, if you cannot handle responsibility that comes alongwith it or if you want to be more powerful, then act with greater responsibility. Period.

This is all the more important because people with less power or who are powerless, look upto the people with more power with great sense of awe, admiration and curiosity. The fact that the more powerful ones don’t have anyone to question them, doesn’t mean that the power can be exercised at own sweet will and on whims and fancies. The power which is exercised not in accordance with the laid down rules and procedures and which is against the acceptability criteria of the people upon whom it is exercised, slowly loses its sheen. It starts to degenerate the moment it is exercised in an arbitrary manner and starts losing credibility in the eyes of the people.

What comes out of this is that if you want to enjoy power and exercise it, then you must behave responsibly. And if you are not ready to behave responsibly, then it is better to not touch power even with a tong, forget about touching with your hand. Because, ladies and gentlemen, lest we forget- power is a double-edged sword. If you can’t handle a sharper knife, one day it will surely bleed you. So, either enhance your ability to use a sharper knife or better be content with a blunt one or even better learn to live without a knife 😀 Not everyone can become Spiderman and neither there is any need for everyone to become Spiderman. And by any chance if you get some superpower- Be like Spiderman! The world already has many Green Goblins and we don’t need any more!

Till next time…..