Our lives are embedded with truth and lies. We try our best to live truthfully but do end up with lies when we face challenges and find it difficult to overcome them truthfully.

If we look back at our lives, there could be millions of instances when we wanted to tell the truth, but had to a lie ,since we did not have the courage to speak the truth.

Our childhood is testimony to many such instances. We may have broken a glass bottle but would unhesitatingly blame our sibling ,since we do not want to face the wrath of our parents. We may have bunked school for a game of football but would lie to our teachers when caught, that we were not aware that the class was on.

As adolescents, we may have smoked or had a drink in a party, but when caught by our parents ,would again lie that we never smoked or drank although we attended the party and so on. The list is endless and the excuses become more innovative ,as we grow older and more experienced at it.

After having invented many innovative lies in different stages of life like a kid, adolescent or an adult at work, I realise today that it is easier to tell the truth, then lie.

The trend continues at the workplace. We may lie many times that our aunts, uncles and grandparents have passed away, when we bunk office and have no plausible reason to give for taking leave. We may fake sickness when we miss deadlines in a project and so on.

I can recall many instances, when one lie had to be covered up with a hundred more lies. If I bunked a class and went for a movie and was caught by a neighbour, I may have faked that some classmate met with an accident. Then, when the neighbour enquires which hospital, we have to lie again and then what injury ,would lead to a third lie and so on . the list is endless.

On the other hand, sometimes telling the truth may solve the issue faster and is simpler. If caught watching a movie, bunking a class by a teacher and accepting that we bunked and went for a movie , it may end the issue without any complications. However, life is not so simple. so ,sometimes we tend to lie and one lie leads to another thousand lies.

As we grow and learn in life, we may realise ,that speaking the truth is easier. However, it needs more courage and honesty, which is not easy in life. As we speak the truth, life becomes more challenging ,as sometimes we may lose our face and at other times , our prestige. But in the long term, the path of truth may be easier to live ,than the volley of lies.

It could be difficult to speak the truth ,as a kid and even as an adolescent but as we turn into adults, we could realise the ease of speaking the truth versus the complexity of speaking lies ,everyday of our life.

We could be forgiven as a kid or even as an adolescent, as we are learning by the mistakes we commit ,every day. But, as an adult our ability to learn from the mistakes accelerates and it may be difficult for people to forgive us for speaking lies, so easily.

It is easier to speak the truth, then lie in life.

S Ramesh Shankar

17th Sep 2023