Illusion and Imagination

Three friends were in the small country town that was seemingly dying. One of them wanted to move into it.

“There is nothing here. Look around. Just a couple of stores on the side of the road and a few houses on the main street, there is no future here. What do you see here?” asked one.

“I see a lot of stores, a bakery, a library, a busy main road. I see beautiful parks, holiday homes all around. I see a bright future, a large, thriving, community holding fun activities. I can hear the bands playing in the theatre, the children playing in the park over there,” replied the one who wanted to live there.

“Mmm… Do you really see all that in this near emptiness? That is an illusion!” remarked the first man.

“No, it is imagination,” said the third man.

The three friends were in the heart of the bustling metropolis of over a million people. Tall buildings all round, electric wires, trams, trains, buses, cars, traffic lights, crowds such that everyone barely had standing room, you had to keep moving to keep your space. It was noisy and loud all the time, but one got used to it as the background sound.

“What do you see around here?” asked one.

“I see a vast, quiet beach, with grassy paddocks leading up to thick bushland. Farmhouses scattered around, a wide main road with a few dozen shops and buildings on the main road.  I hear crickets chirping. I see a few roads branching off from the main road, with houses in neat rows on either side. Maybe a couple of thousand people living in the area,” said the second man.

“That’s an illusion,” said the first man.

“No, it is imagination,” said the third man.


Photos credit and Copyright  (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2012

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