Melvin Durai
One of the most captivating moments at this year’s FIFA World Cup occurred after Canada beat South Africa 1-0 to reach the round of 16. Head coach Jesse Marsch drew his players into a circle on the field and praised them for taking Canada further than it had ever been in the World Cup. “You guys are Canadian heroes!” he said. “Canadian heroes for the future children of this country, who play this sport. This sport has a big future because of you guys.” South Africa’s head coach Hugo Broos also drew his players into a circle. “You guys are useless!” he said. “Utterly use less. Because of you, the future children of South Africa will play rugby and cricket. Maybe pickleball too.”
Actually, I have no idea what Broos said to his players after the match. Perhaps he called them heroes too for making it to the knockout stage and faring much better than Qatar, who scored on themselves as much as they scored on their opponents. But does the word “heroes” truly apply to the Canadian players? Ask a random American and they might say, “No, beating South Africa doesn’t make you heroic. To be heroic, you have to beat Russia. That’s what our ice hockey team did in 1980 at the Olympics. Those were real heroes.” Ask a random Indian and they might say, “No, beating South Africa or Russia doesn’t make you heroic. To be heroic, you have to beat Pakistan. That’s what our cricket team did in the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup. Those were real heroes.” The word “hero” is used in so many ways and may apply to almost anyone, even the delivery person who braves a heatwave to bring you chicken biryani.
The primary definition of hero, according to Dictionary.com, is “a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character.” It takes courage, for example, to face a lion in a jungle or a Lionel on a football pitch. However, courageous acts do not automatically make you a hero. Jumping into a river to save a drowning child certainly makes you a hero, but sticking your hand into the tiger’s enclosure at the zoo just makes you a fool. Anyone who risks their life to save someone else qualifies as a hero. During the COVID pandemic, doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers were deemed heroes for exposing themselves to the virus while helping patients. Many people, including my younger daughter, were heroes just for finding the courage to expose themselves to a needle. Going to war and putting yourself in danger of getting shot makes you a hero, but so does going to a clinic and putting yourself in line to get a shot. I would be remiss to overlook the second part of the definition: nobility of character.
A person can be heroic just by having high principles and living up to them. It often takes courage to stand up for your principles, as Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela did. It also takes courage to sit down for them, as Rosa Parks did. She’s the American civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in 1955. Dictionary.com also defines a hero as “a person who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal.” Two examples are given: “My older sister is my hero” and “Entrepreneurs are our modern heroes.” I’m skeptical about entrepreneurs as heroes, but not about older sisters. Ask any younger sibling, and they might say something like this: “My older sister is definitely my hero. Whenever our mother cooks bhindi, my sister is always willing to eat my share.”