Sunday, usually , gives me ample time to brood. I sit in my favourite chair, recollecting the past, resuming the present and reviewing the future.
I go back to my school days. I recapture the words of my teacher. Her words still ring in my ears. She , in her own inimical way , guided us to write an essay on Honesty.She bade every one of the twenty of us , to talk briefly of honesty.We were a gregarious lot, always up with ideas, always up to pranks, always in giggles.
She gave ten minutes to prepare. We ,the happy band , expected a much more lively topic. The duration came to a close. The short speech was delivered . The event was a great success. The teacher was pleased to see her wards express in unison that honesty is the best policy. We , though mischievous , never made any irregular entry.
The straight forwardness , we exhibited at the tender age has led us to a life of prosperity.Richness does not comprise material wealth, but the mental satisfaction , we get of being honest and truthful.
The gist of our delivery is best compressed in the words that follow. Honesty is hard to practise. The world is inhabited by liars. The magnitude of a lie varies according to individuals. Bluffing is an art, whereas honesty is simple. To tell a lie, one has to think, one has to work out,one has to remember. If the memory is weak, lie takes up different forms and distinct variations. Truth needs no such encompasses. It is a narration of fact. It requires no extra fringes. It is a bare exposition.
Lies take one forward but never backward. If one goes back , the build up will collapse. To substantiate the lie, more lies have to be framed and executed at proper moments .Honesty leads one in proper direction.If required , a repetition is the only criterion that is enforceable.
Lie ensues speed. The clamber for popularity, the glamour for power, the craze for money, makes man dishonest. A complimentary association with a lie will assure a supplemental residue .New horizons of notoriety and tumultuous macabre of ostentation would be the reward of uttering lies. Old ethics of fame and sombre illustrations of integrity would be the award of telling truth.
Honesty is the easiest form of presentation.
Lie is the strangest part of expression.
Honesty begets lesser refreshments.
Lie behests greater addictions.
Which is better?
The crisp speeches of all he twenty of us still linger in my memory. My mind is afresh of every word that was delivered, since truth needs no brain storming session.
Meenas Poems 