My Dear Truth, Where Are You?

Today is Gandhi Jayanthi.It reminds every one
of us two inter related words‘Sathyam’ and
‘Sathyagraham’, only to be forgotten within a
day or two.
From the day the child is born into this world,
he is brought up among lies,lies and unmixed lies.
It is conventional wisdom that children never
tell lies.But researchers on child psychology
convey that lying plays a positive role in normal
child development and that telling lies is more
or less comparable to individual thinking and
emotional control.All kids learn to lie well even
at the age of two.
In 2015, my three-year-old grandson
visited us. He said,
“Patti [grandmother], you look ugly
because your head is full of grey hair.
Why does your mouth look strange?
Ha ha ha, you don’t have teeth? You
don't know how to make crisp dosas
as my mother.”
In 2017, he made another visit. Now he
said, “Patti, you look
so nice with your grey hair. I also like
your soft dosa smeared with chilli
powder. You do idli and dosa well,
and Amma does noodles and pasta very
well.
”What a change? He has made his
glorious entry into the kingdom of lies!
Am I to feel happy that his
psychological growth is perfect? Or sad
because he has mingled with the
majority?When children make
open remarks, we parents intervene and
make them believe that honesty is not
welcome and that there is
a fine line between telling the truth and
hurting people.
We poison the minds of children who innocently convey to the person at the doorstep, "Daddy says that he is not at home".
Knowingly or unknowingly, man is forced to be consciously aware of telling different lies to different persons to
escape being caught and is unable to come out of the vicious circle.
For fear of concealing the truth, if we are silent, then silence also becomes a lie.Not to talk of election promises
which are nothing but lies
wrapped in pretty packages.
The lies by learned lawyers come under the "technically true" category and they are experts in misleading others to believe what is not true as true.There
is no dearth of undertakngs
‘to speak the truth,the whole truth
and nothing but truth’.
Fake swamijis and astrologers take
advantage of crisis-struck customers and extract thousands of rupees.
Known is the marketing strategy of sales guys,
stalwarts in spinning nice yarns.If sales men start being strictly honest,they have
to starve from the very next month.
All research findings become lies one day, on further findings. Medical truths turn out to be falsehoods
when further truths are revealed.We have
practically experienced this during corona crisis.

"History is a set of lies already agreed upon,"
said Napoleon. Lies have been in existence
from time immemorial. Tenali Raman’s brain brimmed with such lies.
My mom lied to me that the moon,
Chanda Mama, is nearby, benevolent and blazing by the side of dancing colourful deer, so that I would 'eat' whatever she fed me with love.
Even Gods are no exception. With a view to eliminating the power of Dhronacharya
at the enemy camp on the Kurukshetra war
fields, Yudhishtira, the eldest of the Pandavas known for his impeccable honesty,
is made to tell not just a 'white lie' but a deeply designed 'blackest of lies'.
“Aswathama Hathaha Kunjaraha"
with the last word ‘kunjaraha’ drowned in the din and hoary noise of war drums and
wind instruments, neighing of horses and
trumpeting of elephants.
[The elephant named Aswathama has been
killed.]
This was with an intent and motive to make the real war hero Aswathama to be believed as 'dead' by his father Dhronacharya located far away
from his son at that point of time.
Dhrona took his life forthwith to
the delight of the Pandavas. Lord Sri Krishna, as their divine adviser,
threw up several 'lies' under the pretext of protecting 'dharma'. But he could never
destroy the liars. They continue to cherish and thrive.
Can we find any field free from lies and deception?

Lies are stated to be sugar coated capsules
to convey the bitter truths in life.The liars that have social acceptance are the actors,dramatists,historians and fiction writers who are specialized in the art of weaving series of lies .They escape the scandal because of the professional tag attached .

Not to talk of election promises which are nothing but lies wrapped in pretty packings.
Politicians and lies-The bond is quite strong and unbreakable .

Medical professionals give false hopes to the relatives of the terminally ill patients,extract
lakhs of rupees within a week, only to convey God’s will and hand over the mortal remains.

Not to talk of poets, fiction writers and literary
scholars who enjoy exaggeration and telling lies to make juicy topics revolve around.

Wherever you turn,you see nothing but lies.

There are fraudsters in education,marketing and religion too.

When we become so much accustomed to lies
and deceipt,one feels as if he is committing a crime if he starts telling the truth which appears
false and dangerous.In the present situation,
”Truth is nothing more than what one chooses to
believe in the moment”.
I am reminded of the words of the poet Steve Turner
“I believe that each man find the truth for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The Universe will readjust. History will alter."

I believe that there is no absolute truth excepting
the truth that there is no absolute truth.
We want to set aside the above belief and proclaim
in unison
Dear Truth,
Where are you?Please wake up from your deep slumber and come back to us in your original
attire.The world is prepared to give a warm reception.
But how many in the world will be able to recognize the entirely forgotten face of Real
truth. A million dollar question!!
But the blame is shifted on Kaliyuga.
The whole world is Maya, says
Sankaracharya. It is not real and is stated to be a web
created by our own thoughts.The national
motto "Sathyameva Jayathe" still holds good with definition of ‘Sathyam’ having undergone a total metamorphosis.
On Mahatma Gandhi's 151st birth anniversary, do we have anything else to
do but pray ‘let the lies of human beings in various fields grow in leaps and bounds, adding more beauty to the existing ‘delusion'.?
Maya embellishing Maya!

Jayasala42

 

Thank you very much Thyagarajan Sir.
We are always for sweet lies and not for bitter truth.That is the real truth.
Jayasala 42

 

Thank you

Viji

Thank you Madam.
jayasala42

 

Thank you Harilakhera Sir.We understand about kids and how parents instruct them to behave. There seems to be no place for true honesty in the world and we prefer smartness to integrity. True people are branded as 'fit for nothing'.

jayasala 42