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Deceptive impression
"Hey, hey Anish, you got to see what's on the notice board!", Harsh screamed at him.
Anish read out the circular on the notice board, "Fifth-semester electronics exam date: 5th Jan. Damn! We have exams so soon?"
"Not that one, the one below it", Harsh said.
"College fest open mic. 24th and 25th Dec", Anish read.
"Exactly, it's your chance to impress Preeti!", Harsh exclaimed.
"Are you kidding? It's been just a week since I got the guitar. I can barely hold a few chords"
"Doesn't matter. Girls love guys who play the guitar. Just play some simple songs. Have you been practicing any songs on your guitar?" Harsh asked.
"Yeah, Happy Birthday tune", Anish replied.
"Not that one, something better"
…
Anish practiced all day for a week, but he wasn't getting much better. Part of the reason is that learning to play the guitar is a slow process. It takes time and patience to master the chords. Another part of the reason was Anish hurrying to master it. When it comes to creating a masterpiece, the faster you try to do it, the slower you get.
That night, Harsh took Anish to a Magic show in the colony. The two sat on the fifth row from the front. It was held inside a convention hall, with the audience arranged only in one direction of the stage. That's very important for a magic show. Some people were invited to examine the stage before the magician arrived to make sure there was no trickery in it.
Once everything was inspected, a man from the audience walked up to the stage and put on a black hat. He was the magician.
"The first lesson in magic. Hiding in plain sight", the magician said.
The audience clapped.
Then he started performing some simple tricks, like making a bird disappear and turning water into flowers. We've all seen them before. But one particular performance was the most interesting to Anish and Harsh. Every magician has at least one signature trick for which he is known. This was the one.
The magician's assistant brought a water tap. It was just the bare tap not connected anywhere. He then rolled up his sleeves to show that there were no pipes connected anywhere through his shirt. He gave the tap to a few people from the audience who were sitting in the front row for inspection. They returned it to him after confirming it was just a normal tap. Then he kept a transparent water bucket on the table. The magician held the tap on top of the bucket and turned the tap handle. Drops of water started falling from the tap. Everyone was surprised to see water drops falling out of the tap into the bucket. Some people stood up to see if there were any hidden pipes. Anish looked everywhere around the stage but there was no source of water for the tap. Then the magician closed the tap and the water drops stopped.
The audience clapped in unison, having not seen something like that ever before. The magician successfully performed the art of deception.
…
Two days later, the open mic was held in Anish's college. It was an amazing night, with people singing songs, dancing, performing comedy shows, and even ranting on the stage. There were a few professional musicians also who performed. But Anish wasn't prepared. He tried to learn one song on his guitar, but he could barely play three of the seven chords required for that song. Yet, he was there. He walked to the stage with his guitar on the back and sat on the chair in the middle of the stage. He had one microphone in front of him and a cable connected to his guitar.
…
After the magic show ended, Anish asked Harsh, "Do you have any idea how he did that water tap trick?"
"It doesn't matter. The magician didn't perform magic. He deceived us. And his art of deception makes him popular. Imagine how you would feel if you were in his place when he stood alone on the stage and everyone clapped at him. Some even stood up"
…
A large QR code appeared on the screen on the stage behind Anish.
"I want everyone to scan this QR code. It will take you to a website. Give it access to your microphone and hold your phone up in the air", Anish said.
Everyone did as he said and held their phones up.
"Thank you, everyone! I bet you'll love this. Now grab your phone tight because it's gonna get dark over here", Anish announced. He then turned towards Harsh who was standing beside the backstage crew and showed a 'Thumbs up'. All the lights went off.
It was totally dark. Everyone held their phones tight to make sure nobody snatched them away. Some even kept their phones back inside their pockets. It was silent. Everyone was curious about what was going to happen. Then Anish picked one string on his guitar.
…
Harsh continued, "The reason we all fell for the magician's trick is that we were trying to look at his hands and his gestures to make sure he wasn't hiding anything. Also, the beautiful women as his assistants were a source of distraction too. But what we didn't know is that's exactly what he wanted us to see. We couldn't see what he was actually hiding because he was clever enough to make sure we saw the other way. That's deception.
"The open mic is in two days. It's okay if you haven't mastered your guitar skills. You just need to make sure she doesn't notice that. Deceive her and everyone in the audience to see exactly what you want them to see. That's how you get the applause in the end"
…
As soon as the tone traveled from his guitar to the loudspeakers, everyone's phone screens flashed white for half a second. Then Anish played another string. The phone screens flashed again, but this time in red. Anish played more tones and every time, the phones flashed a different color based on the frequency of the tone.
Then Anish started playing the song he practiced on the guitar. The phones flashed with the music he played. Even people who kept their phones in their pockets took it out and raised it up. Every time the phones flashed, the whole audience lit up from the colors of all the screens lighting up together and then it went dark again. Even though Anish wasn't perfect with his chords and strumming, the audience enjoyed seeing the phones playing along with Anish. A drone on the top picked up the discoing lights of all the phones and displayed it on the stage screen in real-time.
Eventually, everyone in the audience started waving their phones to the music Anish played. He was actually playing a sad song and some people even started having tears in their eyes. He wasn't perfect and anyone could say he was a newbie to the guitar, but the flashing lights in their hands and everyone waving in unison did make it feel very special to them. As soon as Anish finished his song, all the audience's phone screens turned off except one. Only Preeti's phone still stayed on with a bright white screen. There was a red text on the screen that said, "This one is for you".
…
The next morning, Harsh was surprised to see Anish alone.
"Hey dude, I thought Preeti would be impressed. Where is she?"
"She did get impressed! Well, I'm one step closer now", Anish said with a smile. Then he continued, "Thanks for your idea of using deception to impress the audience. You're a genius!"
"Nah, man. You're the one who came up with the plan for the smartphone disco thingy. You are the master of deception now"
"Speaking of deception. I think I finally figured it out", Anish said.
"Figured what out?"
"The water tap trick"
"Did you?"
"The tap was always the point of deception. It was never important for the trick. We all thought something was hidden in the tap. But all this time, the secret was in the water tank and the lights"
"The lights?"
"Yes. The lights in the hall. The lights were not constantly glowing. They were turning on and off with a high frequency. A frequency so high that we couldn't see it with naked eyes", Anish said.
"A stroboscope?" Harsh asked.
"Exactly! A stroboscope. And the tank below the tap was no ordinary tank. It had a mini pump underneath that threw drops of water upwards at a particular frequency. So the water was not actually falling from the tap to the tank. It was the other way around. But the flickering of the hall lights was adjusted to the exact frequency such that the water drops appeared to fall downward", Anish explained.
"Wow that magician must be a genius"
"Science, Harsh. That magician used science. It's no magic. It's a deceptive impression"
© arpan
Anish read out the circular on the notice board, "Fifth-semester electronics exam date: 5th Jan. Damn! We have exams so soon?"
"Not that one, the one below it", Harsh said.
"College fest open mic. 24th and 25th Dec", Anish read.
"Exactly, it's your chance to impress Preeti!", Harsh exclaimed.
"Are you kidding? It's been just a week since I got the guitar. I can barely hold a few chords"
"Doesn't matter. Girls love guys who play the guitar. Just play some simple songs. Have you been practicing any songs on your guitar?" Harsh asked.
"Yeah, Happy Birthday tune", Anish replied.
"Not that one, something better"
…
Anish practiced all day for a week, but he wasn't getting much better. Part of the reason is that learning to play the guitar is a slow process. It takes time and patience to master the chords. Another part of the reason was Anish hurrying to master it. When it comes to creating a masterpiece, the faster you try to do it, the slower you get.
That night, Harsh took Anish to a Magic show in the colony. The two sat on the fifth row from the front. It was held inside a convention hall, with the audience arranged only in one direction of the stage. That's very important for a magic show. Some people were invited to examine the stage before the magician arrived to make sure there was no trickery in it.
Once everything was inspected, a man from the audience walked up to the stage and put on a black hat. He was the magician.
"The first lesson in magic. Hiding in plain sight", the magician said.
The audience clapped.
Then he started performing some simple tricks, like making a bird disappear and turning water into flowers. We've all seen them before. But one particular performance was the most interesting to Anish and Harsh. Every magician has at least one signature trick for which he is known. This was the one.
The magician's assistant brought a water tap. It was just the bare tap not connected anywhere. He then rolled up his sleeves to show that there were no pipes connected anywhere through his shirt. He gave the tap to a few people from the audience who were sitting in the front row for inspection. They returned it to him after confirming it was just a normal tap. Then he kept a transparent water bucket on the table. The magician held the tap on top of the bucket and turned the tap handle. Drops of water started falling from the tap. Everyone was surprised to see water drops falling out of the tap into the bucket. Some people stood up to see if there were any hidden pipes. Anish looked everywhere around the stage but there was no source of water for the tap. Then the magician closed the tap and the water drops stopped.
The audience clapped in unison, having not seen something like that ever before. The magician successfully performed the art of deception.
…
Two days later, the open mic was held in Anish's college. It was an amazing night, with people singing songs, dancing, performing comedy shows, and even ranting on the stage. There were a few professional musicians also who performed. But Anish wasn't prepared. He tried to learn one song on his guitar, but he could barely play three of the seven chords required for that song. Yet, he was there. He walked to the stage with his guitar on the back and sat on the chair in the middle of the stage. He had one microphone in front of him and a cable connected to his guitar.
…
After the magic show ended, Anish asked Harsh, "Do you have any idea how he did that water tap trick?"
"It doesn't matter. The magician didn't perform magic. He deceived us. And his art of deception makes him popular. Imagine how you would feel if you were in his place when he stood alone on the stage and everyone clapped at him. Some even stood up"
…
A large QR code appeared on the screen on the stage behind Anish.
"I want everyone to scan this QR code. It will take you to a website. Give it access to your microphone and hold your phone up in the air", Anish said.
Everyone did as he said and held their phones up.
"Thank you, everyone! I bet you'll love this. Now grab your phone tight because it's gonna get dark over here", Anish announced. He then turned towards Harsh who was standing beside the backstage crew and showed a 'Thumbs up'. All the lights went off.
It was totally dark. Everyone held their phones tight to make sure nobody snatched them away. Some even kept their phones back inside their pockets. It was silent. Everyone was curious about what was going to happen. Then Anish picked one string on his guitar.
…
Harsh continued, "The reason we all fell for the magician's trick is that we were trying to look at his hands and his gestures to make sure he wasn't hiding anything. Also, the beautiful women as his assistants were a source of distraction too. But what we didn't know is that's exactly what he wanted us to see. We couldn't see what he was actually hiding because he was clever enough to make sure we saw the other way. That's deception.
"The open mic is in two days. It's okay if you haven't mastered your guitar skills. You just need to make sure she doesn't notice that. Deceive her and everyone in the audience to see exactly what you want them to see. That's how you get the applause in the end"
…
As soon as the tone traveled from his guitar to the loudspeakers, everyone's phone screens flashed white for half a second. Then Anish played another string. The phone screens flashed again, but this time in red. Anish played more tones and every time, the phones flashed a different color based on the frequency of the tone.
Then Anish started playing the song he practiced on the guitar. The phones flashed with the music he played. Even people who kept their phones in their pockets took it out and raised it up. Every time the phones flashed, the whole audience lit up from the colors of all the screens lighting up together and then it went dark again. Even though Anish wasn't perfect with his chords and strumming, the audience enjoyed seeing the phones playing along with Anish. A drone on the top picked up the discoing lights of all the phones and displayed it on the stage screen in real-time.
Eventually, everyone in the audience started waving their phones to the music Anish played. He was actually playing a sad song and some people even started having tears in their eyes. He wasn't perfect and anyone could say he was a newbie to the guitar, but the flashing lights in their hands and everyone waving in unison did make it feel very special to them. As soon as Anish finished his song, all the audience's phone screens turned off except one. Only Preeti's phone still stayed on with a bright white screen. There was a red text on the screen that said, "This one is for you".
…
The next morning, Harsh was surprised to see Anish alone.
"Hey dude, I thought Preeti would be impressed. Where is she?"
"She did get impressed! Well, I'm one step closer now", Anish said with a smile. Then he continued, "Thanks for your idea of using deception to impress the audience. You're a genius!"
"Nah, man. You're the one who came up with the plan for the smartphone disco thingy. You are the master of deception now"
"Speaking of deception. I think I finally figured it out", Anish said.
"Figured what out?"
"The water tap trick"
"Did you?"
"The tap was always the point of deception. It was never important for the trick. We all thought something was hidden in the tap. But all this time, the secret was in the water tank and the lights"
"The lights?"
"Yes. The lights in the hall. The lights were not constantly glowing. They were turning on and off with a high frequency. A frequency so high that we couldn't see it with naked eyes", Anish said.
"A stroboscope?" Harsh asked.
"Exactly! A stroboscope. And the tank below the tap was no ordinary tank. It had a mini pump underneath that threw drops of water upwards at a particular frequency. So the water was not actually falling from the tap to the tank. It was the other way around. But the flickering of the hall lights was adjusted to the exact frequency such that the water drops appeared to fall downward", Anish explained.
"Wow that magician must be a genius"
"Science, Harsh. That magician used science. It's no magic. It's a deceptive impression"
© arpan
