It is often said that world is nothing but an illusion. I don’t know if this is correct but in my limited experiences, I have noticed four perceptions that can be termed as illusions. I mean, we are rational animals and are somewhat emotional also; hence most of us fall to these four notions very easily.
1. All good looking people are good individuals: This is the most common mistake people make: if someone is handsome or beautiful, he or she will be an ethical and even-tempered individual as well. In a nutshell, almost all of us go for appearances. Beauty is a wonderful thing but it creates a halo effect too; it has caused wars, it has inspired poets and writers, and it has stripped the great kings of their crowns. Even in these times, it is not uncommon to see boys falling for beautiful and tempting but evil or loose character girls and ruin generations to come by marrying such nymphs. Similarly, girls running after handsome boys and assuming them to be a benchmark of perfection and bravery is also common. When the mists of such false notions disappear, depressing truths emerge.
2. People fluent in English are brilliant: English is just a medium of communication that merely expresses a thought or idea. The value is not of the unique bottle of perfume or the case of diamond ring but of the perfume and ring itself. Similarly, good English in no way indicates intelligence of the speaker. School dropouts, street urchins and even pimps sometimes speak better angrezi than doctors and executives.
3. Expensive gifts indicate deep feelings: It is simply our greed that makes us think so. People who are devoted to us must not be put to test every now and then. A gift is more of a formality to avoid being the odd-one-out at social events. A flower or a diamond does not anyways indicate the depth of feelings, rather actions and behavior does. I have seen people literally criticizing gifts openly; this is something that not only indicates shallowness but avarice as well.
4. Those who speak less are highly evolved and mature: There is a saying in hindi ‘band mutthi lakh ki; khul gayi to khak ki’ that means an empty fist is valuable only till it is kept closed. Similarly, dumb asses prefer to keep their mouths shut when some intellectual talk is going on to get a benefit of doubt. Maturity is not reflected in brooding the whole day or scorning at jokes, but in the level of dexterity with which one manages the daily affairs of his/her life without disturbing the relations and social settings.
Finally, I would love to quote Famous English philosopher Francis Bacon here:
“Dignity of presence is much better than beauty of aspect”
Absolutely!
