Be truthful, be brave :

“Satyameva Jayate”, these two words synonymous with our freedom struggle are as important today as they were during our fight for independence. We are taught in school the importance of “Satyameva Jay ate” or “truth alone triumphs” and indoctrinated to abide by it throughout our lives.

However, the reality is much more different.

Quiet often we are faced with the predicament of either speaking the truth or facing the consequences or to tell a lie to save our skin. There was this one specific occasion that I recollect vividly where I had to face this test.It was in class ten when I was around sixteen years old.

It was a hot sultry summer day when the results were announced for our final examinations which determined whether we progressed from class ten to eleven and more importantly the subjects we would be entitled to choose which would be the key to determining our career.

 Having put in months of effort, I like all my fellow students was expecting good scores. This would also enable me to choose science and become a doctor which I always aspired to be since I was a kid.

The scores that I got finally were abysmal! I had barely passed in Mathematics and had scrapped through Physics and Chemistry.

As I was pondering the best combination of subjects that I could select for my pre university classes, I was suddenly stuck by the thought of what to tell my parents on the results.

Would I lie to them about my scores or do I tell them that I did not want to take up science any more.

Or even better tell them that I was cheated out of good scores due to the favoritism of the teachers.

I tried to weigh the different options in front of me.The pros and cons.I felt that telling my parents that I had been cheated from what I deserved would be the best way out. Yes , blame it on the teachers  I said to myself !. Were there not amongst us those who took private tuition with the intention of getting better grades in the school exams.

As I fine tuned my lie while plying home from school to my home I was suddenly struck by the fact that in the end I would be lying to no one else but myself. Who would gain from this lie?

Could I face my teachers many of whom slogged it out to help us attain good scores in our exams?

No. I could not do that.It was not the right thing to. I needed the courage to stand up to my parents and more importantly to myself.

And So I did. Yes, the consequences were severe, I got a sound hearing from my parents, escaped a beating but realized that by running away from the truth would not solve my problems.

It also ensured that in the future I could always relate to this incident when I was a teenager and get strength to tell the truth.

There is a saying that we learn from our mistakes. In my case I learned from the day I had the courage to speak the truth as I thought it was the right thing to do.

As the great Rabindranath Tagore has put it so eloquently "Facts are many, but the truth is one.”

source: Kinley

This post is written for Indi Happy Hours in association with Kinely