Immortals of Meluha

‘And I’ll know all that by talking about the colour of that leaf?’
‘Yes.’
‘By the Holy Lake, man!’ groaned Shiva. ‘Let’s talk about the leaf then.’
‘All right,’ laughed the Pandit. ‘Tell me. What is the colour of that leaf?’
‘The colour? It’s green.’
‘Is it?’
‘Isn’t it?
‘Why do you think it appears green to you?’
‘Because,’ said Shiva, amused, ‘it is green.’
‘No. That wasn’t what I was trying to ask. You had a conversation with one of Brahaspati’s
scientists about how the eyes see. Didn’t you?’
‘Oh that, right,’ said Shiva slapping his forehead. ‘Light falls on an object. And when it
reflects back from that object to your eyes, you see that object.’
‘Exactly! And you had another conversation with another scientist about what normal white
sunlight is made of.’
‘Yes, I did. White light is nothing but the confluence of seven different colours. That is why
the rainbow is made up of seven colours since it is formed when raindrops disperse sunlight.’
‘Correct! Now put these two theories together and answer my question. Why does that leaf
appear green to you?’
Shiva frowned as his mind worked the problem out. White sunlight falls on that leaf. The
leaf’s physical properties are such that it absorbs the colours violet, indigo, blue, yellow, orange
and red. It doesn’t absorb the colour green, which is then reflected back to my eyes. Hence I
see the leaf as green.’
‘Exactly!’ beamed the Pandit. ‘So think about the colour of that leaf from the perspective of
the leaf itself. What colour it absorbs and what it rejects. Is its colour green? Or is it every
single colour in the world, except green?’
Shiva was stunned into silence by the simplicity of the argument being presented to him.
‘There are many realities. There are many versions of what may appear obvious,’ continued
the Pandit. ‘Whatever appears as the unshakeable truth, the exact opposite may also be true in
another context. It is the context or perspective that you’re looking from that moulds which
particular reality you see.’
Shiva turned slowly towards the leaf again. Its lustrous green colour shone through in the
glorious sunlight.
‘Are your eyes capable of seeing another reality?’ asked the Pandit.
Shiva continued to stare at the leaf as it gradually altered its appearance. The colour
seemed to be dissolving out of the leaf as its bright green hue gradually grew lighter and lighter.
It slowly reduced itself to a shade of grey. As a stunned Shiva continued to stare, even the grey
seemed to dissolve slowly, till the leaf was almost transparent. Only its outline could be
discerned. There appeared to be numerous curved lines of two colours, black and white,
moving in and out of the outline of the leaf. It almost appeared as if the leaf was nothing but a
carrier, which the black and white curved lines used as a temporary stop on their eternal
journey.
It took some time for Shiva to realise that the surrounding leaves had also been transformed
into their outlines. As his eyes panned, he noticed that the entire tree had magically
transformed into an outline, with the black and white curved lines flowing in and out, easily and