I started reading a Sci Fi novel – Dune by Frank Herbert. I have not even crossed 30 pages and already the characters in the book are analyzing if the hero ( a kid as of now ) is the one? It kind of put me off a bit..but I will persist with the book. Curious to know if he is the one 😉

Coming from an eastern civilization where there is really no “one hero” it does sound a bit funny initially. There are 1+ million Gods, in Mahabharata there are 5 heros, and there is a hero who is part of the dark side too ( Karna ), in Ramayana actually the bad guy is projected to be on the good side ( Rama – who else.. haha 😉 he plots the downfall of one of the monkey kings, suspects poor Deepika…better known as Sita and burns her etc. ).

Switch to the Western world – there is Matrix. After snazzy graphics, exploding cars and trucks, and 3 parts – it is determined that Neo is the One. In Lord of the rings the ring chooses a sad looking Elijah Woods as the One. In the latest movie too, Avatar, there is some legend among the Pandorites and our hero happens to be – not surprisingly – the One.

Its fun – being part of both worlds. I grew up fascinated with the Mahabaratha, and Ramayana – it  helped me identify shades of grey in the world, and that there is not one, but many heroes – and they are on both sides.

Then Hollywood movies and American politics showed how things are really not as complicated as we Easterners think – but it is quite simple – as either a red or blue pill/vote and how there can be “the One”.