Do we need to tell ‘lies’ to survive? This is a question for which most of us fail to answer. According to my wife, husbands can survive only with the support of ‘blatant lies.’ Most of us lie for a cause, sometimes to make one happy, otherwise to hurt someone or simply because it has become part of our habit. For sure 99.9 per cent of us lie on a daily basis without any regret. Most of the creative writers lie a lot just because creativity and imagination is nothing but a rainbow of lies.

Can you tell your boss that you are late because you wanted to watch the cricket match instead of blaming a bad traffic, or can you just tell one of your friends in a party that her dress is looking really horrible and not matching to the event? Or can you, at least, tell someone that you hate him because she /he has got a bad smell? I don’t think so.

As per studies, men lie ‘statistically’ more often than women and commit something between three and eight lies a day. Human beings practise trickery as early as six month of age. They grab attention by fake crying or laughter. Later, we practise this act continuously to become ‘professional liars.’ Children lie because they are scared of parents, husbands lie because they are scared of their wives, but I can’t understand why teachers lie?

I trusted my teacher and believed that The Emperor Nero played the ‘fiddle’ while Rome burned until history writer William Weir disclosed that this was one of the greatest lies of history. In reality, Nero was determined in his efforts to quell the fire and provided relief to the Roman people. Remember, the musical instrument ‘fiddle’ was only invented 1,500 years after Nero’s death.

We usually quote to motivate the story of ‘Robert the Bruce’ who was inspired by a little spider to come out from his hideout and defeat the British. But according to actual facts, it was the smart tactic coupled with the death of King Edward I that led to the victory.

Most of us consider Jesse James as an American version of ‘Robin Hood,’ but in reality, he was a confederate vigilante who killed and stole without mercy.

Popular belief says that Wright brothers were the ones who invented the aeroplane. However, in reality it was Sir George Cayley who correctly described the principle of lift, drag and thrust. Again, it was his driver who became the first passenger to steer his parachute across the valley. The poor driver later resigned citing that he was hired as a ‘driver’ and not as a ‘pilot.’

I think most of these facts were not known to the teacher who taught me History or may be the world was not in the right time then, for these facts to be revealed.

During the recent typhoon at Philippines, the Media reported more than 10,000 deaths. On the flip side, the government sources stated less than 3,000. The reason behind the death of Yasser Arafat is still under debate. In my understanding, no profession is ‘free from lies,’ whether it is of a doctor, lawyer, policeman or barber.

It is easy to accommodate liars, but being amidst men and women who are worshippers of Truth is one of the toughest things in life. When I told my son that I am going to follow Mahatma Gandhi, he asked with a wink, “Then, how would you survive as an editor?”

If you find it difficult to disclose a fact just because you are scared, the best thing to do is to make a ‘time capsule.’ Fill all the relevant information about a fact inside an airtight and watertight container and bury the capsule not too deep but in the hope that someone in the distant future will unearth it and discover the secrets. I really wanted to make such a time capsule. But what if my wife unearths? I won’t mind. Do you think I am still lying!