When mommy goes to 'Civil War'

The only super heroes I knew till last week were Spider-man, Superman and our desi Krissh. “Ignorance is bliss”, they say. My kids would discuss Loki and Fury like they were our next door neighbors. Often the man in the house would join the discussion too. My only hopes were pinned to my daughter but she’s turned out to be one who would rather watch an action movie than come bracelet shopping with me. So it was pretty much one against three. “What’s the big deal, anyway,” I thought and I decided it was time to take the plunge. So when Marvel came up with the ‘Civil War’ movie I said, “Well, why not? I’ll come to the movies with you.” After all I wanted to be part of the family activity too. The three looked at me speechless, like they did when they saw Bucky alive in Part 2 (Yeah, I know that now). They knew this meant a lot of hard work, but they were ready and so was I.

It was decided that to bring Mommy up to speed it was important she should watch the first two parts of the Captain America series. So I did. But in the middle of the first part I had to make dinner so I got up with an almost natural oh-no!-have-to-go face. 2 days later came part 2 on a weekend morning and I watched it while continuing with my weekend chores. I think I passed my test, cause towards the end I knew at least who the Captain was.

D-day. Dad made sure I had popcorn and chips so I could keep myself busy during the movie, in case I got bored. Expert Avengerist - my son, would be sitting next to me to clear doubts when required. (I think this was more of dad-daughter ruse to stay as far away from me as possible. The little boy fell for it as he was declared an expert. ) The first half hour went in figuring out one more time - who’s who! My constant “Ha kon, hi kon?” (Who’s this? Who’s that), amused my son in the beginning and he murmured with detail, “This is Black Widow and she is the captain’s friend.”  “Oh the one who was a fighter in the army? But she was blonde.” “Not that one mumma! That was Peggy. This is Black Widow. She was in the 2^nd part. Don’t you remember anything? Leave it.” My next few questions got one word answers. I sat quietly trying to figure out who were the good guys and who were the bad guys and why the good guys were fighting the other good guys! Then suddenly came Spiderman from Queens and I jumped with joy like a dessert traveler who had seen an oasis. Finally a familiar face! “C’mon,” I said to my boy later, “you expect me to know there is an AntMan as well? Even IronMan didn’t know he existed.” ;) Point taken.

I looked proudly at my super heroes through the darkness of the hall; the ones sitting next to me - enjoying and actually understanding Sokovia accords, Hydra handlers and cryogenic sleeping. But my head had started hurting from all the clink clunk – You see, I’m more of a Bollywood ‘aa dhishum, aaa dhishum’ type of action movie fan. But when the captain’s shield and IronMan’s metal fist hit, its metal vs metal, again and again - clink, clunk and more clink and clunk all the way.  Add to that buildings falling and cars crashing and explosions everywhere. Finally the good guys on both sides have patched up and we start walking towards the exit. “See when two good brothers fight, it’s the outsider who wins,” I tell my kids (There isn’t a parental guidance opportunity I would want to miss). “Is that what you saw in the movie?” they asked disappointed. Anyways, it was over. “HALT!” said the dad, “there’s a mid-credit scene.” We sit down again on the empty chairs in the first row. It ends with Black Panther muttering something. The three give a high five “Black Panther! Yes. Have to watch the next one.” I call it quits.