My favorite superhero is Superman!

I still remember standing on the edge of my bed with a red pillow cover wrapped around my shoulders like a cape. I would take aim and jump to the table, which stood much taller than the bed, and then make a big leap to the floor, landing with a thump.

I grew up watching Superman. I loved Superman. Yes, the same Superman who wears a cringy blue costume with bright red underwear. Christopher Reeve’s Superman. I was mesmerized by watching him fly, fight bad guys, and save the world. I also loved that clumsy Clark Kent, too. I giggled at whoever made fun of him, knowing that he could literally fly circles around them.

There was this magic in this character that I just couldn’t let go of. The naive 4-year-old me wanted to be Superman when I grew up. Some dream, huh! Eventually, reality set in. I realized I couldn’t fly on my own, so I went for the next best thing: becoming a pilot, specifically a fighter pilot. That’s partly because my dad was in the Air Force, and I grew up watching jets tear through the sky over Bangalore. Ha, that didn’t work out either, did it?

As I got older, life got in the way. Superman movies went quiet for a while, and suddenly, everyone wanted to be Batman. I hadn’t seen a single Batman movie till I was sixteen. I mean, who cares about a guy in a bat costume who can’t even fly?

That’s when I watched The Dark Knight for the first time. Then I watched it again, and again, and then again. I was obsessed. I had to go back and binge-watch the whole trilogy. I was mindblown to see the depth in each character; it’s not just a good guy-bad guy superhero movie anymore. There were way too many sharp dialogues and scenes that just hit the right nerve.

I’m not a comic book guy. I’ve only read five in my life, and two were Superman. But lying in bed last night, I realized I still can’t shake the feeling away. As much as I love Batman, Superman is still the one I look up to. He’s that pure symbol of hope that brings the four-year-old me right back to the edge of the bed, ready to jump.

Superman '78