“You Liar!”

The world always says, find good people and leave bad ones, but I have found that finding the good in people is more feasible and practical, because identifying a good person is not an easy thing as we assume it to be. Who is a good person? Perhaps it could even be a liar. Suppose you hear somebody screaming ‘You liar!’. Who needs to be explained that a bad person could be on the other end? It is what exactly I also would have guessed. A few classic stories on liars that I came across recently have changed my attitude to liars. A lie is a false statement. Liars come in various categories like pathological liars, compulsive liars, beautiful liars, habitual liars etc. Be it big or small, it is not an attribute to good moral standing. I don’t know how many lies an average person hears each day. The biggest liar could be the market economy. It says, Kareena has dandruff problem, Katrina has dry hair problem, Shilpa has hair fall problem and Priyanka has chip-chip. If we believe advertisements, the only reason why men use deodorant is to get girls; nobody uses motorbikes for commuting, it’s only to pick up girls. Media comes next. They are more dangerous than a violent anaconda. Politicians are best liars as the public interprets them. Religious leaders, who are experts in meticulously twisting Holy verses for personal/group interests are not anywhere down.

In spite of all these, frankly speaking, I yearn for best liars in my life because what I believe is that best lies come from the most loving. Siddhartha Buddha once told his disciples the parable of a merchant and his children. Whenever the merchant in the parable came home after long business journeys, his children used to hang around him asking for a chariot and horses, which he could not afford. The merchant was a very pious man who never opened his mouth for a lie. One day, when he came home, he was shocked to see that his house was on fire. He could also hear his children playing inside. With all his might he shouted, ’fire, fire!’  The children did not respond. The fire was quickly spreading all over and he hesitantly shouted ‘chariot, chariot’ and the children came out running. Buddha asked his disciples, how on the earth this merchant is a liar?

Nobody is going to blame this liar merchant for the false statement he made. It is clear that he spoke so only because of his intense concern for his children. Sometime back, I happened to hear the story of great liar. This lady liar was a poor widow with an intelligent hardworking son. The son many times asked her to get married. She said that she can’t love one more. She raised money to educate her son by working in a toys factory. Many nights she was found assembling toys at home, and when asked she used to say that she doesn’t feel sleepy. Whenever she cooked fish at home, she took only the bones; she used to say that she likes it very much. Sometimes she skipped meals. If asked, she would say that it is fasting for her. The son passed the grades with distinction and quickly got a job abroad. He wanted to take her too along with. But she said that she is happier at home. As days passed by, she fell seriously ill; the son hurried home and found her abed in a public hospital for the poor. He learned that she is in heavy pains struggling in her final phase. She but told him that she is okay. However, she passed away the other day. When the son reeled back through his memory, he understood that she was a big liar. She worked overtime to fetch the necessary money for his tuition; she fasted because there was not enough for her too. The son understood that all that she spoke was big lies only, all with an intention to up bring him appropriately. As she lay motionless, the son bent his head and whispered in her dump ear, “You Liar!”

Joseph Mattappally