On a rainy, windy, Saturday, while sipping a hot cup of chocolate, at my window I sat, musing over how I felt away, far far away. It’d been since the “Return of Superman” that my eyes had awed at the silver screen and my ears had echoed at the Dolby. Alas, I could not stand it anymore and adventured into the cinema called “sALt”. It was far from being sour. First, it made me forget that I was in a theatre. Second, it was just like life (with the dull bits cut out). It reflected life’s reality: perception. It’s an irony of sorts. If you tell a man that his father was dishonest, he will bristle, but if he discovers that his great-grandfather was a pirate, he will brag about it. Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. Least knowing that there are other possibilities. If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe. Yet we perceive, and we dream.
Perceptions change with surroundings. You see, when at my farms, I often play with the kids of farm folks. One day a kid sees a plane and started dreaming of faraway places, asking me what it was like to live in the big city. I’d bet that a traveler in the same plane would see our farm house below and dream of home. It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are in themselves. The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it. Now, what makes a scene interesting? If you see a man coming through a doorway, it means nothing. If you see him coming through a window – that is at once interesting, intriguing.
You can also play with perceptions. Imagine being run out of town by a crowd of townsfolk. Get in front of the crowd and make it look like a parade. You know the story of a half empty or a half full glass. One is a pessimist and the other an optimist. Well there’s one more. I’d say it is twice as large as it needs to be. What will you call me then; a half pessimist or a half optimist? There are always three sides to every story: your side, the other side, and the truth. Remember, if the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are or the way we want to see them as they are. Play with perceptions. I know that the guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. He never did anything with other than brag about it. The guy who invented the other three was a genius. Be the genius. That’s perceptive relativity. Make perceptions your ally and rule the world.
