As a story teller I try digging into my experience with life and try pulling out incidences and events that have touched my life in more than one ways and I try to put them in words so that they remain engraved in eternity. One such exemplary incidence of chivalry and bravery that continues to astonish me even after 2 years of its occurrence is of a boy who rouse from being just another ordinary person to a super hero. That day made me realise that real life super heroes are born out of deeds and not out of super powers or fancy costumes.
It was a late October night and winter was just about to set in my city. A perfect time to enjoy a delicious Italian meal in a newly inaugurated posh dine in and that’s exactly what me and my baby brother did and we tagged an acquaintance along with us to share the bill. As expected the diner was a grand affair and I definitely had a great time bonding with my ever busy brother and of course we had the acquaintance tagged along who was giving us good company with his insights about life and stuffs. As this well spent Saturday evening came to a closure, we decided to head back home. It was close to mid night by the time we came out of the restaurant and my city has a bad reputation for being dangerous for women especially at such late hours of the night. But I did not have to bother myself with safety issues as I had two men towering over 6 feet standing as my guards. Yup! Though I like calling him my baby brother but he is not a baby after all, I am 4 years his senior but he stands tall and over powers me by good 5 inches, and how can I forget the acquaintance who could easily over power my brother by an inch or two.
Outside the restaurant as we waited for our Uber cab to arrive, we witnessed two pretty blond girls standing near us and probably waiting for their cab to arrive. I started shamelessly checking them out and admiring their blond locks and fair skin. A few moments later they came to us hurriedly with tensed expression and asked us if we could help them in booking a cab. It was after a little more conversation that we registered in that they were from England and had come on a back packing trip. They were facing difficulty finding their way back to hotel and most importantly they pointed us to a posh red car standing close by and two men peeping out of it and staring at the girls in the most indecent and vulgar manner. Apparently these men had made some derogatory comments on these girls and tried forcing them to accompany them in their dirty intentions. The girls seemed a little scared and as I started consoling them, in stepped my baby brother and instantly asked them to board the cab that we were supposed to take and started explaining them a route map to their destination. He even tagged his number in their phone as an emergency contact number and even directed the cab driver to drop them off safely. As these girls waved us with goodbyes and gratitude and their cab rode away, the two creepy looking dirty men who had been watching this whole chain of events all along came to us. My brother asked me to step back as they approached us and I obeyed him and moved a few steps back. A few seconds later I could see a heated argument brewing between the three of them and suddenly my six feet tall brother slapped one of the evil bastard and as the other bastard tried to run away my dearest brother caught him by the neck and turned back to me and asked me to call the police. That moment still gives me Goosebumps. I knew these men had ugly intentions and to be able to do my bit to see such men dragged to their rightful place was a proud moment for me. And as luck would have it my brother spotted two men in uniform on patrolling duty and dragged one of the evil duo to them. I tagged along with him and he narrated to the policemen about how they had tried harassing the girls and how they approached my brother to threaten him to either give the whereabouts of the girls or that they would not spare him and me. The police caught the two men by their collars and slapped them with heavy hands and dragged them along after thanking us. How can I forget our dearest acquaintance who had tagged along with us, in the midst of all this high voltage drama he was constantly busy judging the girls and trying to share his worldly insight with us as to how these girls were surely prostitutes and easily available type and tried lecturing us not to help them or support them, though I take pride in the fact that we choose to ignore his insights and continued with our moral responsibility.
Later that night the girls gave us a call after reaching their hotel safely and thanked my brother for his chivalry. We both continue to be connected to the two girls till date and let me assure you they are no prostitutes or easily available as judged by the wise acquaintance who tagged along with us that night. It still gives me shivers to think of an alternate end to this situation had we not been there, or had my brother not boldly handled the situation. Though it might seem to be a trivial incidence but in a society with ever growing incidences of rapes and gang rapes, I still feel that this was an act of utmost courage by my brother. Such acts of bravery reassure our faith in humanity. Bravery is the selfless act of standing up for one’s moral responsibilities and not to be taken aback by fear or predefined perceptions of the society. That night, that moment I saw this young man who was, is and will always continue to be my baby brother rising above and beyond the shackles of fear and judgements. He did not fly or climb any roof like a spider or a bat, neither did he wear any fancy mask but what he did makes him a super hero in every right.