Liar, liar, pants on fire, Hanging’ on a telephone wire!” is a paraphrased version of the 1810 poem “The Liar” by William Blake.
“Deceiver, dissembler your trousers are alight from what pole or gallows shall they dangle in the night? ... When I asked of your career why did you have to kick my rear with that stinking lie of thine, Proclaiming that you owned a mine…?”
I initially doubted if the above lines were actually written by Sir Blake
but hey it has a “THINE” so scrupulously yes they are.
You all must have heard of the fable where by a boy called Smriti Irani
used to often lie to the villagers about being caught by a wolf, and every time
the villagers came to rescue him, he rolled on the floor, laughing … Ummm NO! WAIT!!! … Smriti Irani is the bigger liar (I will
come back to her later) yah, so where
was I , ok so this boy one day was caught by a wolf in Real this time(how co-incidental,
hmm) anyway (DYK: it is grammatically, socially, culturally and probably even
universally wrong to misuse this term as Anyways- remember there are many
ways and one of the many is ANYWAY), the story is supposed to come
to an end, whereby we should know Jhooth Bolna Paap hai, but what if I come up
with another extended version of it. For instance as soon as the wolf was going
to devour our little LIAR what if he suggested to the wolf that the boy should
be spared for then so that the next day Mr.
Liar could bring more of his friends which would result in more food for the
wolf and henceforth the wolf foolishly agreed and ironically it was a LIE that
helped him save his life ( Now don’t you ask me as to how did the wolf
understand human language, when you did not have the nerve to ask the same from
the writer of Little Red Riding Hood then I too deserve equal status)
Well a question that storms my brain often is If
someone says that they have never ever
lied, is that the biggest lie? why are lies such an integral quotidian. My father
has rightfully told me that it is easy to lie in the beginning but extremely
difficult to pursue it further where as honesty might be difficult in the beginning
but gradually makes things easy. Its sort of true , no really had Mrs. Virani
Irani been honest about her qualification things would have been different,
Much different.
Some time back my cousin was sitting stunned, upon interrogation
it was brought to my notice that my little cousin Z had used a BAD word, I was
elated and furious(furious because this little cousin Z was barely 6 so my fury
should be justified and elated because I saw this opportunity to boss around the
other siblings (yay!!!)). In a stern and strict voice I asked my little cousin
Z if he had been notorious enough to use the bad word (the word wasn’t all that
bad but still it wasn’t pristine either). Being a keen observer that I am, I realised that gradually little
cousin Z’s ears and cheeks turned from pink to crimson, he gulped and blinked
continuously and after a couple of minutes he said NO. I have not recovered
from that incident because that has taught me something about human nature. It can
be rightfully said that we lie even when our body refuses to do so.
Well, let’s give it a shot; let’s take up a challenge, one whole day
without any lie –big or small. I hope our story doesn’t end up being like that
of Govinda’s Character in Kyonki Mai Jhoot Nahi Bolta. We need a break from
these long ,prevailing and incessant lies. We need to cultivate honesty not for
our parents or friends or society but as
matter of fact, for ourselves.
I remember, once I was in an elevator
which consisted of this middle –aged man,well dressed and sane looking, he was
nervously talking to someone on the phone and upon inquiry from the person who
was at the other end of the phone call, this man said that he was in Kanpur
which was a Big Fat Lie because the elevator was and still is in a mall which
happens to be in the heart of Lucknow. All the other eavesdroppers, including
me, scornfully looked at him with a one or two tch tch as well. My take here is
that we all lie - like all the time but that doesn’t make falsity right. Its just
that the scrutiny of public made it seem variant from what I am sure we all do
at some point of time or the other though the levels may vary. Well it is as
simple as it can be- if something looks so bad on others how can it suit us (unless
it is couture).Lets bring down the
countless lies that are produced at the drop of a hat.
I know it might be too much to ask for, especially from people like those who call their friends and
lie “yaar balance nahi hai call kar lo” so that they can talk non-scenically to
their JUST FRIENDS. *rolling my eyes*
I do not believe that it is possible to turn into a new leaf all at
once, nope, but just try and bring the bar of continuous falsehood, fabrication, and deception
as down as possible.
Quit Smoking and Say no to Lies
XOxoXO
