“…Truth is the first to be sought for and Beauty and Goodness will then be added unto you…” Mahatma Gandhi

Slowly but steadily we have become an untruthful nation, till today it is difficult for us to take anyone at face value. Even as someone speaks to us, we are on guard, trying to analyze his speech, body language, his manner of speaking, his gestures, her posture and decipher whether they’re speaking the truth or not and based on what our senses perceive we modify and mould our reply and carry on the conversation with liberal doses of our own falsehoods.

After all if they’re lying why shouldn’t we also?

When Aristotle the Greek philosopher who was also tutor to Alexander the Great was asked, what a man could gain by uttering falsehoods, he replied, ‘Not to be believed when he is telling the truth.’ On the other hand it is related that when Petrarch the Italian poet a man of strict integrity was summoned as a witness and offered in the usual manner to take an oath before a court of justice, the judge closed the book, saying, ‘As for you Petrarch, your word is sufficient!’

‘As for you Patrarch your word is sufficient!’

Can we ever expect anyone to say thus to us?

Can you imagine what delight, what joy it would create in you if your child, your son or your daughter, your spouse, turned to you and said such words?

Words which mean; you are a person of truth.

But sadly we as a people, as a nation have become a bunch of liars. We blame our politicians for being untruthful, but have you ever been to some one’s house where the telephone rings, the child picks up the phone turns to his father and asks, “Dad are you at home or not?”

Yes, the son or daughter has learned to lie but the tutor is his or her father or mother. How often we take our child for a movie and tell the gateman that he’s above the legal age, or buy a half ticket for him or her for a bus ride or make him twelve when he’s actually thirteen so that you can get that hotel accommodation cheaper.

You think you’ve got away with saving a few hundred bucks but you’ve taught your child to lie, and then one day the school principal calls you over, “I’m sorry but we caught your son cheating!”

“Cheating! My son? That’s impossible!”

“Here’s proof, this is the paper we found in his socks!”

You walk back ashamed with child in tow and finally ask, “Where did you learn to be a cheat?”

“You taught me to be one ma!”

Today the whole world reveres and respects the teachings of Gandhiji. He used truth well. What made Gandhi seek the truth? What made Gandhi use truth as a weapon? Because truth was the most powerful weapon Gandhi found he could use. In other words it makes logical sense to be truthful.

So let’s try and get back to this logical, workable way of leading our lives, and watch how success will come to us; not today’s success where we have cash in our cupboards and wait fearfully for the taxman to ring our doorbell, but a success where we not only do well, but sleep well with truth being our pillow..!