As usual, Vijay, Rajesh, and Priya were studying together at Priya’s home. But it seemed that Priya was not paying any attention to studies at all. From the corners of her eyes she was, time and again, glancing at Vijay. At first Vijay did not realize this since he was deeply engrossed in his study but after a long time he sensed something different happening and soon he discovered Priya constantly glancing at him. Vijay tried to ignore it or at first he even pretended to have noticed it but soon he too was unable to concentrate since Priya continued to glance at him repeatedly.
Now Vijay too could not focus on his studies and once he caught Priya red-handed, as though she was stealing something, and asked, ‘Priya, what is this happening today?’.
‘What? Nothing!’, Priya shrugged her shoulders and started reading her notes as if nothing was happening.
Now even Rajesh’s attention was disturbed and he asked, ‘What happened?’.
Finding that nobody was answering his question, Rajesh continued studying again but when Vijay discovered that still Priya had continued glancing at him clandestinely he warned Priya, ‘It seems your mind has gone helter-skelter today and you are unable to control it!’.
‘Oh! That means you do sense my feelings!’, Priya passed a taunt to Vijay.
‘Why? Why can’t I sense your emotions? Am I any mechanical device like a senseless machine?’, Vijay hit back at Priya.
‘No! But I thought that you are indeed a machine, with the only difference of, a machine made of bones and flesh!’, Priya retorted.
Rajesh’s concentration was completely disturbed by this intriguing talk between Vijay and Priya. He annoyingly sought to know, ‘May I know what is this going on between both of you?’.
‘Rajesh! Do you know what happened yesterday night?’, Priya seized the opportunity to disclose.
‘How will I get to know what happened yesterday unless you tell me that?’, Rajesh made a fun of Priya.
Priya ignored his jocular remark and continued telling, ‘Yesterday night I heard the noise of our gate being opened while I was busy studying!’.
‘Some thieves must have tried to enter!’, Rajesh interrupted Priya.
‘Will you please listen to me completely!’, Priya argued.
‘Fine! Fine! You complete your story without my interruption!’, Rajesh conceded.
‘So what was I telling?, Yes, yesterday night when I was studying, I heard the sound of our gate being opened. So I saw from the window that Vijay was coming’, Priya said.
‘What?, There you are! My dear friend, Vijay! Yesterday evening when I enquired whether you are interested to join me for watching a movie, you refused under the pretext of studying and now I know why you refused!’, Rajesh pinched at Vijay.
‘Yesterday night I had come at your home! What nonsense!’, Vijay said surprisingly.
‘Will you please listen to me what happened next? Will you both please remain quiet?’, Priya pleaded before them.
‘I came out to receive Vijay since I saw him coming but after coming out I was astonished to see the gate was closed and above all there was nobody there!’, Priya explained.
‘Hey! Wait! I will tell you what is all this!’, Rajesh quickly tried to interrupt.
‘What?’, Priya replied.
‘It must the ghost of Vijay’, Rajesh taunted by laughing at both of them, ‘that you got to see from window!’.
‘Rajesh! Don’t talk foolish! I am serious about I told you now!’, Priya angrily said.
‘It happens this way sometimes’, Rajesh tried to get serious with Priya, ‘while studying you must have felt dizzy and you must have seen this dream!’.
‘No! No! It was definitely not a dream at all!. I myself feel surprised nowadays but this is what is happening with me every now and then!. Day and night Vijay keeps appearing before my eyes!’, Priya replied.
‘But does this keep happening only about Vijay?’, Rajesh mischievously asked.
‘Yes! You are right! This happens only about Vijay!’, Priya confirmed.
‘Do you know when does this happen?’, Rajesh smiled and asked.
‘When does it happen?’, Vijay joined the discussion.
‘When……Somebody falls in love!’, Rajesh smiled and concluded.
Priya felt blushed and she started looking down.
‘Nonsense! There is nothing call ‘Love’ etc!. It is, but, a one type of mental weakness!, and sickness also!’, Vijay analyzed.
Priya raised her head and looked angrily at Vijay.
‘Hey! Why are you looking at me like this? Are you going to butcher and eat me!’, Vijay taunted in a tone of mischief.
Priya once again started looking down.
Rajesh once again opened his mouth to tease Priya but seeing sorry feelings on Priya’s face he restrained himself and said to Vijay, ‘When one does not understand certain emotions, one must not at least ridicule them’.
‘Master Rajesh, bloody you keep running behind the shadow of that fatty? Now you tell me honestly whether you have a genuine love for her in your mind or it is only a physical attraction?’, Vijay angrily asked.
Priya started going from there angrily banging her steps on floor and both, Vijay and Rajesh kept looking at her in a surprised manner.
Therefore, Priya herself, turned back and said, ‘I am going to get a cup of tea!’.
‘First of all I have told you several times not to call her fatty!’, Rajesh angrily warned Vijay, ‘It hurts me severely!’.
‘It hurts me!’, Vijay sarcastically repeated Rajesh’s words and said, ‘Show me where does it exactly hurt you friend!’.
‘Vijay please! Stop it!’, Rajesh replied.
‘Ok! I’m sorry!, but at least answer my question honestly! You genuinely love her or is it only a physical attraction!’, Vijay was not going to spare Rajesh without obtaining the answer of this root question.
‘I cannot say it so clearly!. There is some love mixed with some physical attraction or even some casual feelings!. But all said and done everything sounds really nice and worth craving for!’, Rajesh replied.
‘That means you can call it an utter confusion of emotions!’, Vijay asserted.
‘You won’t understand these emotions! Perhaps, only when you too will fall in love that you will get to experience this!’, Rajesh calmly said.
‘I don’t think that this is possible in my whole life!’, Vijay said.
‘Let us see what happens in future!’, Rajesh challenged.
Then, peeping inside the house, Rajesh said in a low voice, ‘You are really a fool! How the hell you fail to understand that Priya is in love with you!’.
‘She is crazy and is also little talkative! That’s why she keeps churning out words like this!’, Vijay ridiculed Rajesh.
‘Bear one thing in mind Vijay! If you are unable to understand her emotions then you have no right to ridicule her emotions!’, Rajesh warned.
‘Then what do you think am I suppose to do?’, Vijay asked.
Rajesh kept mum over this.
‘Shall I induce her further and deviate from my goal! Is even she not going to suffer then in all this mess?’, Vijay ruthlessly asked.
‘This means you too understand her emotions to some extent!’, Rajesh smilingly asked.
‘They are not emotions but only a confusion of feelings!. And above all nobody can deviate me from my aims!’, Vijay once again confidently replied.
‘Do whatever you want man! But at least don’t hurt her!. That is all I want to say for the time being!’, Rajesh sought to finally advice Vijay.
Novel Illusion (Complete) - Based on a true story
Re: Novel Illusion (Complete) - Based on a true story
Priya, who had vanished from the scene angrily, soon brought with her three cups of tea for all of them. Now there was no anger apparent on her face. She kept one cup of tea each in front of them, but they knew it well, that usually she would personally give each cup into their hands. Instead, she had just kept it today in front of them. Then holding her own cup in her hands, she started sipping the tea slowly with continuing the studies further. Rajesh and Vijay glanced at each other. Vijay was feeling sorry for unnecessarily hurting her.
‘Yes! Do you know what is it called to that you were saying before going for tea?’, Vijay asked her. Frankly speaking he was only trying to restore her normal mood by talking with her again.
‘Before going for tea, what was I saying?’, Priya suddenly asked unknowingly.
‘That’s what, that you get to see me in your front every now and then or throughout day and night!’, Vijay explained.
‘I was only joking. Does anything like this happen ever?’, Priya remarked, ‘I was bored of studying so I just thought it better to change the topic for initiating some relaxation and entertainment! Isn’t it Rajesh?. Wasn’t it a good relaxation and entertainment!’.
Rajesh did not utter a word because he could understand how deeply Priya must have felt hurt which was why she was casually turning the leaf of any discussion to that topic away. Finding that Rajesh was keeping quiet, Priya once again got engrossed with her reading or, at least, started pretending the same.
‘Anyway, that apart!’, Vijay now turned his attention to Rajesh, ‘I will tell you what I was about to say!’.
But from the corners of his eyes he was carefully attentive of Priya.
‘What are you going to tell me now?’, Rajesh was reluctant to hear because he was hesitant to insert his hand in the ‘Cold War’ between Vijay and Priya to avoid inviting the wrath of any one of them since he had had his fingers burnt several times before by doing that which is why he was alert about it now.
‘Please! I am studying now! Don’t disturb me with your casual talks!’, Priya intervened.
‘How nice of you! Last time did we utter a word against you when you were chatting with us after feeling bored?’, Vijay angrily asked her.
Priya continued delving in her book and studies by ignoring Vijay’s angry assertion forcing Vijay to continue saying, ‘and now you are feeling disturbed by our talks. It is our turn now to feel bored and hence we are going to change the topic’. Vijay sarcastically stressed the mention of his phrase, ‘change the topic’.
‘We are going to change the topic?’, Rajesh pinched, ‘If you both want to continue quarrelling you both may very well continue with it. But don’t unnecessarily pull me in between’. It is often said that a wise is the one who doesn’t interfere in a street-quarrel or between the dispute going on among a husband and wife’.
‘What?’, both Vijay and Priya startlingly asked.
‘No! What I meant is that I was only comparing dispute between you both with a street-quarrel!’, Rajesh quickly sought to clarify himself.
‘That is what even I say, how could you dare to pass such a nasty remark!’, Vijay reacted.
‘But why did you not ask one should not interfere in a street-quarrel and also in a dispute between husband and wife?’, Rajesh asked.
‘Why should one not interfere?’, Priya curiously asked.
‘First I will tell you about the dispute between husband and wife!. One should not try to reconcile between a husband and a wife is that there is never any guarantee when both of them may shake hands and start quarreling with you itself’, Rajesh explained.
‘And why should one not interfere between a street-quarrel!’, Vijay curiously asked.
‘One should never interfere in a street-quarrel because’, Rajesh quietly got up from his chair and started moving toward the door and before running away, he cunningly replied, ‘you never know when the parties involved in a street-quarrel appear out to be a husband and wife!’.
Realizing that Rajesh has again pointed out the whole story back to the phrase ‘husband and wife’ and thereby sought to pair them up again, Vijay angrily shouted, ‘You bloody scoundrel’ and ran after Rajesh.
As soon as Vijay got up to catch him, Rajesh quickly ran away from the door he had intentionally opened carefully before passing that mischievous remark but Vijay also started running after him to catch him outside. Now even Priya was induced to come out of the house and watch, for a long time, their running episode full of fun where Vijay was vigorously attempting to get hold of Rajesh and Rajesh in turn was trying to repeatedly dodge Vijay.
‘Yes! Do you know what is it called to that you were saying before going for tea?’, Vijay asked her. Frankly speaking he was only trying to restore her normal mood by talking with her again.
‘Before going for tea, what was I saying?’, Priya suddenly asked unknowingly.
‘That’s what, that you get to see me in your front every now and then or throughout day and night!’, Vijay explained.
‘I was only joking. Does anything like this happen ever?’, Priya remarked, ‘I was bored of studying so I just thought it better to change the topic for initiating some relaxation and entertainment! Isn’t it Rajesh?. Wasn’t it a good relaxation and entertainment!’.
Rajesh did not utter a word because he could understand how deeply Priya must have felt hurt which was why she was casually turning the leaf of any discussion to that topic away. Finding that Rajesh was keeping quiet, Priya once again got engrossed with her reading or, at least, started pretending the same.
‘Anyway, that apart!’, Vijay now turned his attention to Rajesh, ‘I will tell you what I was about to say!’.
But from the corners of his eyes he was carefully attentive of Priya.
‘What are you going to tell me now?’, Rajesh was reluctant to hear because he was hesitant to insert his hand in the ‘Cold War’ between Vijay and Priya to avoid inviting the wrath of any one of them since he had had his fingers burnt several times before by doing that which is why he was alert about it now.
‘Please! I am studying now! Don’t disturb me with your casual talks!’, Priya intervened.
‘How nice of you! Last time did we utter a word against you when you were chatting with us after feeling bored?’, Vijay angrily asked her.
Priya continued delving in her book and studies by ignoring Vijay’s angry assertion forcing Vijay to continue saying, ‘and now you are feeling disturbed by our talks. It is our turn now to feel bored and hence we are going to change the topic’. Vijay sarcastically stressed the mention of his phrase, ‘change the topic’.
‘We are going to change the topic?’, Rajesh pinched, ‘If you both want to continue quarrelling you both may very well continue with it. But don’t unnecessarily pull me in between’. It is often said that a wise is the one who doesn’t interfere in a street-quarrel or between the dispute going on among a husband and wife’.
‘What?’, both Vijay and Priya startlingly asked.
‘No! What I meant is that I was only comparing dispute between you both with a street-quarrel!’, Rajesh quickly sought to clarify himself.
‘That is what even I say, how could you dare to pass such a nasty remark!’, Vijay reacted.
‘But why did you not ask one should not interfere in a street-quarrel and also in a dispute between husband and wife?’, Rajesh asked.
‘Why should one not interfere?’, Priya curiously asked.
‘First I will tell you about the dispute between husband and wife!. One should not try to reconcile between a husband and a wife is that there is never any guarantee when both of them may shake hands and start quarreling with you itself’, Rajesh explained.
‘And why should one not interfere between a street-quarrel!’, Vijay curiously asked.
‘One should never interfere in a street-quarrel because’, Rajesh quietly got up from his chair and started moving toward the door and before running away, he cunningly replied, ‘you never know when the parties involved in a street-quarrel appear out to be a husband and wife!’.
Realizing that Rajesh has again pointed out the whole story back to the phrase ‘husband and wife’ and thereby sought to pair them up again, Vijay angrily shouted, ‘You bloody scoundrel’ and ran after Rajesh.
As soon as Vijay got up to catch him, Rajesh quickly ran away from the door he had intentionally opened carefully before passing that mischievous remark but Vijay also started running after him to catch him outside. Now even Priya was induced to come out of the house and watch, for a long time, their running episode full of fun where Vijay was vigorously attempting to get hold of Rajesh and Rajesh in turn was trying to repeatedly dodge Vijay.
Re: Novel Illusion (Complete) - Based on a true story
Today when Vijay arrived for the studies he had brought one circular-shaped card and two-three long iron nails with him.
After seeing that Priya curiously asked, ‘What is this have you brought with yourself?’.
‘Even I have been asking him the same question for quite some time’, Rajesh replied, and he is only saying that he is going to show us some experiment.
‘That’s really nice! Go ahead and show it quickly!’, Priya curiously said.
‘First of all, you at least occupy your seats friends!’, Vijay insisted.
Both of them occupied their seats but still they were unable to trace what experiment Vijay was intending to show. Rajesh was aware that Vijay was purposely delaying so that everybody’s curiosity may reach to its peak but he too was cunning enough not to ask even a single question to defeat the very purpose of Vijay’s delay.
But how was Priya to restrain herself from asking and that is what she did by saying, ‘Yes! We have taken our seats and now show us what experiment you have decided!’.
‘Yes! Yes! Certainly!’, Vijay replied, ‘will you please wait and watch. You are always so impatient about everything!’.
Priya got annoyed with remark, and just like yesterday, felt angry too. Immediately, she opened the book and began her studies because she had realized that since yesterday, Vijay was intentionally maintaining some distance between she and himself. Now she had made-up her mind not to talk with him on her own unless and until he would not open some dialogue.
Vijay was going to say something to Priya but sensing the changed mood of Priya he said to Rajesh, while clandestinely giving an intentional gesture at Priya, ‘Yes! Rajesh, you were saying yesterday that anybody who has fallen love starts feeling as though he or she is seeing his or her fiancé or fiancée everywhere’.
Hearing this sentence, Priya too was tempted to glance at Vijay but she focused her attention back to the book after Vijay saw at her at the same instance.
‘Yes! Quite right!, what new have you said?’, Rajesh replied.
‘No, what I mean is that, you assume that you get to see that fatty, sorry, that queen of yours, everywhere!’, Vijay asked.
‘Why to assume! Of course, yes, I experience seeing her everywhere!’, Rajesh committed himself with pride having been able to join Priya’s camp.
‘Fine! I accept it that you see her everywhere! But do you know what is this called as in the scientific terminology?’, Vijay asked by first looking at Rajesh and then after glancing at Priya.
Once again Priya glanced at Vijay clandestinely because it appeared that her curiosity was now aroused after what Vijay was telling.
‘What do they call it?’, both, Rajesh and Priya instantly asked as though all her anger had vanished instantly within a fraction of a second.
‘That is called hallucination!’, Vijay now looked straight into Priya’s eyes.
‘It is also called as Illusion!’, Rajesh contributed.
‘Quite right!’, Vijay endorsed.
‘It is about that concept itself I am going to demonstrate one experiment today!’, Vijay said, while lifting the cardboard and the nail, the instruments of the same.
Rajesh and Priya glanced at each other and they started carefully observing the cardboard Vijay had held in his hand. The surface of that board was white and there were many circles drawn on it with a same centre, one circle, drawn outside the other thus giving it a look of a coil. Then Vijay pierced a hole at the centre of the board and inserted the nail there. Now holding that nail Vijay started revolving the board around that nail.
‘What is this new idiotism?’, Rajesh exclaimed.
‘Now both of you start staring at this board for two minutes without even blinking your eyelids and immediately thereafter you look at your fingers’, Vijay asked, and started revolving the board at a much faster speed
Accordingly both, Rajesh and Priya, stared at the board, consistently for two minutes without even blinking their eyelids. After the completion of two minutes, Vijay signaled them to look at their own fingers.
Instantly Priya shouted, ‘Fantastic! My fingers are appearing to be bending!’. ‘Even mine!’, Rajesh endorsed with equal surprise.
Vijay was only smiling mysteriously.
‘Now they are straightening up!’, Priya said soon.
‘Yes! Mine too!’, Rajesh endorsed again.
‘Do you know this is called?’, Vijay asked with a smile.
Both of them looked at him with the same question on their face.
‘This is called hallucination’, Vijay replied with the same smile, ‘or even an optical illusion!’.
Their curiosity fully aroused, both Priya and Rajesh, lifted that cardboard and started revolving it themselves to look at other objects in the room and soon discovered that even those objects were appearing to be bending at first and then straightening up. Both of them were enjoying the fun and Vijay was watching them silently with a smile on his face.
After giving them some to enjoy with their new discovery, Vijay gave a thought for a while, and he said to Priya, ‘Anyway, now let us turn to the prologue of this experiment. Let me ask you the answer of a riddle!’.
Priya curiously smiled at Vijay as if all her anger had vanished within no time.
‘It seems you guys are not interested in studies today’, Rajesh questioned.
‘Just wait! After solving this riddle we will get back to the studies!’, Vijay requested.
‘Of course, while studying some short break of relaxation is a must!’, Priya commented.
‘That is quite right but ever since we have come only relaxation is going on and nobody is even making a mention of studies!’, Rajesh protested.
‘No! No!’, Vijay argued, ‘after this riddle we shall definitely get back to studies.
Rajesh offered his silent consent and he started listening to Vijay carefully.
Vijay purposely took a big pause before disclosing the riddle.
‘Are you telling the riddle or just whiling away the time?’, Rajesh angrily asked.
‘Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Some mood needs to be created before disclosing the riddle!’, Vijay replied.
‘Oh Yes! The mood is already created!’, Priya insisted, ‘Now tell us the riddle!’.
‘There was a pond with a small island exactly at its centre’, Vijay started explaining the riddle, ‘the distance from the banks of that pond to that island was 23 feet. Also, there was a wooden plank kept nearby whose length is 20 feet. Now a man wants reach up to the island from the banks of the pond. So, how will he manage to reach?’.
Priya and Rajesh delved into their thoughts for a while and Rajesh exclaimed, ‘It is very easy!’. Priya too endorsed saying, ‘Indeed! This is very easy to answer!’.
Priya started telling the answer, ‘That man use that wooden plank to walk the distance of 20 feet and thereafter he will jump on the island which would then be only three feet away!’.
Vijay laughed loudly to hear that.
‘Yes! Quite right’, Rajesh replied, ‘That is the answer even I was to tell. Why are you laughing! Priya’s answer is correct!’.
Vijay again laughed loudly and said, ‘Friends! There was no water in the pond!’.
‘But you had not told this earlier!’, Priya argued as though she wanted to assert that Vijay cannot fool them so easily.
‘Yes! Absolutely! You should have told this to us before!’, Rajesh endorsed.
‘That is the whole fun of this riddle!’, Vijay continued laughing before offering his explanation, ‘when I said ‘Pond’ you guys assumed that there was water in it!’.
‘The fun is that’, Vijay continued explaining, ‘there is one specialty of human brain to assume concepts or call it a habit of filling the gaps with pre-set notions or assumptions. If the human brain tends to use this facility excessively then the concerned individual suffers from hallucinations or, as Rajesh rightly called it, illusions. Not only that if a human being loses his or her control over this specialty then several variety of hallucinations start taking place which can even culminate into being insane’. After completing this explanation, Vijay laughed loudly as though he was making a mockery of Priya.
But right at the next moment a grave sadness spread over his face probably because he realized that his own sister herself was an insane woman.
After seeing that Priya curiously asked, ‘What is this have you brought with yourself?’.
‘Even I have been asking him the same question for quite some time’, Rajesh replied, and he is only saying that he is going to show us some experiment.
‘That’s really nice! Go ahead and show it quickly!’, Priya curiously said.
‘First of all, you at least occupy your seats friends!’, Vijay insisted.
Both of them occupied their seats but still they were unable to trace what experiment Vijay was intending to show. Rajesh was aware that Vijay was purposely delaying so that everybody’s curiosity may reach to its peak but he too was cunning enough not to ask even a single question to defeat the very purpose of Vijay’s delay.
But how was Priya to restrain herself from asking and that is what she did by saying, ‘Yes! We have taken our seats and now show us what experiment you have decided!’.
‘Yes! Yes! Certainly!’, Vijay replied, ‘will you please wait and watch. You are always so impatient about everything!’.
Priya got annoyed with remark, and just like yesterday, felt angry too. Immediately, she opened the book and began her studies because she had realized that since yesterday, Vijay was intentionally maintaining some distance between she and himself. Now she had made-up her mind not to talk with him on her own unless and until he would not open some dialogue.
Vijay was going to say something to Priya but sensing the changed mood of Priya he said to Rajesh, while clandestinely giving an intentional gesture at Priya, ‘Yes! Rajesh, you were saying yesterday that anybody who has fallen love starts feeling as though he or she is seeing his or her fiancé or fiancée everywhere’.
Hearing this sentence, Priya too was tempted to glance at Vijay but she focused her attention back to the book after Vijay saw at her at the same instance.
‘Yes! Quite right!, what new have you said?’, Rajesh replied.
‘No, what I mean is that, you assume that you get to see that fatty, sorry, that queen of yours, everywhere!’, Vijay asked.
‘Why to assume! Of course, yes, I experience seeing her everywhere!’, Rajesh committed himself with pride having been able to join Priya’s camp.
‘Fine! I accept it that you see her everywhere! But do you know what is this called as in the scientific terminology?’, Vijay asked by first looking at Rajesh and then after glancing at Priya.
Once again Priya glanced at Vijay clandestinely because it appeared that her curiosity was now aroused after what Vijay was telling.
‘What do they call it?’, both, Rajesh and Priya instantly asked as though all her anger had vanished instantly within a fraction of a second.
‘That is called hallucination!’, Vijay now looked straight into Priya’s eyes.
‘It is also called as Illusion!’, Rajesh contributed.
‘Quite right!’, Vijay endorsed.
‘It is about that concept itself I am going to demonstrate one experiment today!’, Vijay said, while lifting the cardboard and the nail, the instruments of the same.
Rajesh and Priya glanced at each other and they started carefully observing the cardboard Vijay had held in his hand. The surface of that board was white and there were many circles drawn on it with a same centre, one circle, drawn outside the other thus giving it a look of a coil. Then Vijay pierced a hole at the centre of the board and inserted the nail there. Now holding that nail Vijay started revolving the board around that nail.
‘What is this new idiotism?’, Rajesh exclaimed.
‘Now both of you start staring at this board for two minutes without even blinking your eyelids and immediately thereafter you look at your fingers’, Vijay asked, and started revolving the board at a much faster speed
Accordingly both, Rajesh and Priya, stared at the board, consistently for two minutes without even blinking their eyelids. After the completion of two minutes, Vijay signaled them to look at their own fingers.
Instantly Priya shouted, ‘Fantastic! My fingers are appearing to be bending!’. ‘Even mine!’, Rajesh endorsed with equal surprise.
Vijay was only smiling mysteriously.
‘Now they are straightening up!’, Priya said soon.
‘Yes! Mine too!’, Rajesh endorsed again.
‘Do you know this is called?’, Vijay asked with a smile.
Both of them looked at him with the same question on their face.
‘This is called hallucination’, Vijay replied with the same smile, ‘or even an optical illusion!’.
Their curiosity fully aroused, both Priya and Rajesh, lifted that cardboard and started revolving it themselves to look at other objects in the room and soon discovered that even those objects were appearing to be bending at first and then straightening up. Both of them were enjoying the fun and Vijay was watching them silently with a smile on his face.
After giving them some to enjoy with their new discovery, Vijay gave a thought for a while, and he said to Priya, ‘Anyway, now let us turn to the prologue of this experiment. Let me ask you the answer of a riddle!’.
Priya curiously smiled at Vijay as if all her anger had vanished within no time.
‘It seems you guys are not interested in studies today’, Rajesh questioned.
‘Just wait! After solving this riddle we will get back to the studies!’, Vijay requested.
‘Of course, while studying some short break of relaxation is a must!’, Priya commented.
‘That is quite right but ever since we have come only relaxation is going on and nobody is even making a mention of studies!’, Rajesh protested.
‘No! No!’, Vijay argued, ‘after this riddle we shall definitely get back to studies.
Rajesh offered his silent consent and he started listening to Vijay carefully.
Vijay purposely took a big pause before disclosing the riddle.
‘Are you telling the riddle or just whiling away the time?’, Rajesh angrily asked.
‘Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Some mood needs to be created before disclosing the riddle!’, Vijay replied.
‘Oh Yes! The mood is already created!’, Priya insisted, ‘Now tell us the riddle!’.
‘There was a pond with a small island exactly at its centre’, Vijay started explaining the riddle, ‘the distance from the banks of that pond to that island was 23 feet. Also, there was a wooden plank kept nearby whose length is 20 feet. Now a man wants reach up to the island from the banks of the pond. So, how will he manage to reach?’.
Priya and Rajesh delved into their thoughts for a while and Rajesh exclaimed, ‘It is very easy!’. Priya too endorsed saying, ‘Indeed! This is very easy to answer!’.
Priya started telling the answer, ‘That man use that wooden plank to walk the distance of 20 feet and thereafter he will jump on the island which would then be only three feet away!’.
Vijay laughed loudly to hear that.
‘Yes! Quite right’, Rajesh replied, ‘That is the answer even I was to tell. Why are you laughing! Priya’s answer is correct!’.
Vijay again laughed loudly and said, ‘Friends! There was no water in the pond!’.
‘But you had not told this earlier!’, Priya argued as though she wanted to assert that Vijay cannot fool them so easily.
‘Yes! Absolutely! You should have told this to us before!’, Rajesh endorsed.
‘That is the whole fun of this riddle!’, Vijay continued laughing before offering his explanation, ‘when I said ‘Pond’ you guys assumed that there was water in it!’.
‘The fun is that’, Vijay continued explaining, ‘there is one specialty of human brain to assume concepts or call it a habit of filling the gaps with pre-set notions or assumptions. If the human brain tends to use this facility excessively then the concerned individual suffers from hallucinations or, as Rajesh rightly called it, illusions. Not only that if a human being loses his or her control over this specialty then several variety of hallucinations start taking place which can even culminate into being insane’. After completing this explanation, Vijay laughed loudly as though he was making a mockery of Priya.
But right at the next moment a grave sadness spread over his face probably because he realized that his own sister herself was an insane woman.