Illusion

I was reading Agatha Christie’s 'They Do It With Mirrors' when I got a vague idea to use ‘Illusion’ as a main theme in an article. Later, visiting a store that sells electrical equipment I liked the various glass forms and designs. All the pieces gave different effects and reflections. I searched the internet for the meaning of Illusion and have many results ranging from mirage, hallucination, fantasy, sham, delusion, pretence and many more.

So I randomly asked a few people as to what is the first thing that comes to their mind when I say ‘illusion’. The replies I got were as different as the people where. So many perceptions, so many thought processes. I tried to define their answers in my own way.

Rainbow – a play of light and water drops.

Magician’s tricks – quickness of hands.

Ghost – product of the fear of unknown.

Mirrors – optical reflection.

Kaleidoscope – mirrors again. Reflections and refractions.

A straight line – depends on line of vision. Parallax error.

Joining of sky & earth – trick of mind. Wishful thinking, maybe.

Life – this is the reply I liked the most. It was given by my teacher. Sounds philosophical initially, but then all the above replies are a part of life.

What we see, hear, feel may be quite different from what actually is the truth. Life is most of the time a guessing game. Do we always see what we want to see or what others want us to see? I think it’s both. And that keeps us thinking and wondering about the versions of truth, the possibilities.

Now with so many people acting effortlessly in their daily lives, it has become all the more important to recognize an illusion and separate it from reality to understand the true nature of a person. The society demands and forces a person to create an illusion for the sake of others and one by one everyone begin to live the illusion to a point where they are no longer sure about the reality.

I suddenly remembered a poem I read written by Gabriel Okara, a Nigerian poet & novelist. This poem talks about the change in the society and the attitude of people from one generation to another. This poem, in its own way suits my version of ‘Illusion’. 

Once Upon A Time

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, son,

they used to laugh with their hearts,

and laugh with their eyes;

but now they only laugh with their teeth,

while their ice block cold eyes

search behind our shadows.

There was a time indeed

they used to shake hands with their hearts;

but that's gone, son.

Now they left shake hands without hearts

while their left hands search

my empty pockets.

‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:

they say, and when I come

again and feel

at home, once, twice,

there will be no thrice-

for then I find doors shut on me

So I have learned many things, son.

I have learned to wear many faces

like dresses – home face,

office face, street face, host face,cocktail face,

with all their conforming smiles

like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth

and shake hands without my heart.

I have also learned to say, ‘Goodbye’,

when I mean ‘Good-riddance’:

to say ‘Glad to meet you’,

without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been

nice talking to you’, after being bored.

But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be

when I was like you. I want

to unlearn all these muting things.

Most of all, I want to relearn

how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror

shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how

I used to laugh and smile

once upon a time when I was like you.