I recently saw a Tamil movie – PS-1 (Ponniyan Selvan – Part 1). It is historical fiction based on events that took place centuries ago in the south of India. In short, it is about a kingdom and how it retained or lost its empire. One of the princes’ is fighting other states and is interested in just winning wars. And the other prince is also fighting but in a more peaceful way. At the same time, the princess is ensuring that the kingdom does not slip away from her hand. And that it stays safe from the clutches of the minister’s wife.

A small note on the movie itself; it is breathtaking – the director, cameraman and musical director have created art. The scenes are wonderfully crafted, supported by the music and the actors. PS 1 is one rare movie that energises you because it has connected you to the source of all creativity.

While I really enjoyed the movie – what I came back with us was that the men were the brawn while the women were the beauty and the brains. They ran the show without resorting to violence. And in that day and age, that’s all that women could do. They could not go out and fight on the battleground, so they played games in the courtroom. And some part of that stayed with women even in this day and age.

I always complain about why Alexa is a female. Why did developers not name him Atlas the butler? Why does it have to be women we order around? So, in one of my team meetings, I voiced my opinion – and to that, one of my team members said, ‘At least I could boss somebody around this way. My wife bosses me around all the time.’

And that got me thinking – a lot of things. One, women subtly influence the course of life and the world, and it’s good if nobody knows about it overtly. Second, wouldn’t the world be a better place if women ran it – they look to work together first rather than resort to violence.

I am not stating that all women fall into the category, just like not all men resort to violence as their first choice. I am highlighting that there are many ways to skin the cat – and maybe it’s time we tried some of the different methods. For the longest time, history will support this; we have been doing the same thing repeatedly. One man’s paranoia has hijacked us against the rest of the world. And we never learn from them. Maybe if we had a fundamental shift in how we go about these things might steer the course of humanity. And who knows, humanity may finally evolve rather than destroy itself.

Each of us on this planet, regardless of our gender, has something we can use. And it’s time we combine all our individual strengths to see what magic we can create. But, for that, we have to recognise what each one of us has.

What do you have that you can use?