The Aristotelian Tragic Hero — Virat Kohli

The World Cup is over, but the deep scars it left are still fresh. The post mortem, the dissection, the analysis, the criticism, mud- slinging or blame game, give it any name is on all social media platforms available to mankind. It began immediately without even giving time to anyone to mourn for the loss. Everyone is trying to forget and move on but the erstwhile cricketers to politicians to journalists to alternate media does not allow neither the players nor the fans to put the loss aside and go to the next item on the list. Who is to be blamed for the loss? Who is the tragic hero of the lot? Is, it, Rohit Sharma for captaining the team wonderfully or Virat Kohli for being the highest run making machine, or Shami for being the highest wicket taker or Ashwin who was made to sit out in spite of being the best right arm spin bowler in the world. The Tragic Hero in this series is King Kohli, the protagonist. According to Hindu Scriptures, Virat, is also another name of Param Pita Brahma. The word Virat means bravery, heroism and valour. It also means gigantic and enormous. All these qualities are in our Tragic Hero.

Let us see why we call him a Tragic Hero not a Hero. The difference between Epic Hero’s heroism and a Tragic Hero: While the Epic Hero’s heroism is mainly rooted in heroic deeds, the Tragic Hero’s is rooted in knowledge or wisdom through suffering which in turn gives him the courage to meet his fate with dignity and with heroism. It is time for everyone to realise that we are all tied to a fate larger than ourselves and fate is divinely ordered. It may also be Hamartia—a fatal flaw leading to downfall of a tragic hero or heroine. A tragic hero is never a villain. A tragic hero typically has heroic traits that earns him sympathy of the audience but with flaws. He is characterized as virtuous, eminently good, a noble personage who is upstanding and morally inclined while nonetheless subject to human error. The misfortune that engulfed Virat Kohli was not through depravity but by some error of judgement which is typical of a Tragic Hero.

Virat Kohli is one who is loved and adored by millions of Indians across the world. His strength, his grit and determination, the do or die attitude makes him stand apart. He was the rock star of the show. Kohli knew India’s hopes of dictating the final rested on him. He was the driving force of the team and felt the pain most, as one forgettable day washes away years of hard work and preparation. He knew that dreams of millions have been shattered with one misjudged shot. He did not anticipate that the ball will have extra bounce, he rose on his toes to defend, the ball hit his stumps, it proved fatal, the flaw of the tragic hero. With the tragic hero’s fall, insecurity, fear of losing the match creeped into every cricketer.

That was the cursed moment, the defeat became imminent. In the middle of the dead silence, in the arena, stood Virat Kohli looking into the skies vacantly, motionless, empty of expression, for an answer. His look said all. He felt betrayed, cheated, forlorn, ‘all has come to Naught’, and walked off the field. He had his cold numbed fingers in his hair waiting restlessly, which everyone knew was a torture, for collecting the player of the tournament award, which he must have cursed and never want to remember that souvenir in life. That night must have been heart breaking of all nights. Even in that moment, where there was gloom and depression every-where, his name was chanted by the moist eyed crowd. Those thousands of pairs of eyes had sympathy in them for their hero, the KING.

The agony for Kohli must have been definitely intense for letting down such loyal, devoted crowd. His face said all, having not said anything. Stonily he collected the ‘painful’ trophy and went past quickly up the stair way to the dressing room. His years and months of hard labour ended in the dark corner where he could finally be alone and weep, broke down and silently cursed the night that was never his. As Rahul Dravid said, ‘The Sun will rise the next day as usual’, but the scars, the scar of not winning the World Cup for a perfect player, the best player will never heal. It will haunt every cricketer who was on the field and off the field life -long. The more it will haunt King Kohli, the darling of millions, the best display piece of the entire team. He, surpassed every cricketer of the world in his pursuit of excellence, perfection and achievement. He reached lofty heights and had a fall, a fall that cannot be saved by any miracle, the fall of ‘ARISTOTELIAN TRAGIC HERO’.