I recently
faced an awkward situation, when one of my close relatives approached me to
sign some papers as a witness. I casually went through the document before
signing. I was quite surprised to see that he had mentioned his educational
qualifications as B.Sc. I positively knew that this gentleman had left the
college after first year and had never studied for any examination after that.
But since my job was only to sign as a witness, for him having signed the
papers personally, I did not raise the issue with him and signed as a witness
because having refused to do so would have created permanent frost in our relationship.
This
episode was much thought provoking for me. Firstly, I wondered how a person
could so blatantly hide the facts from his past, which could be easily found
out. But the real problem is for the other person, who knows that it is a false
information and puts him in real quandary.
In India,
most of the marriages are arranged and it is not uncommon for the near
relatives to check the credentials of the prospective bride or the groom as reported
to them from outside independent sources. In one such marriage proposal, we
were told that the girl was doing her MBA from a business school. We decided to
check this up and approached the principal of that school through a mutual acquaintance.
After a few days came back the reply. The principal had said; “She is one of
the better students of her class.” The
message was loud and clear. Indeed, the girl was studying for the course, yet
if it was the academic excellence that we were looking for, the girl was far
from it. She was a mediocre or at the best an average student. Since, we were
not particularly looking for a person with academic excellence, the principal’s
report was thought to be an OK report and the matter was forgotten.
I was
however, very much impressed with the principal’s reply and the clever way in
which, he had got out of an awkward situation as no one could have found his
description offensive and yet it said the truth.
As a
senior, I have also faced such awkward situations, where telling the truth may
often offend one of your dear ones. Yet, it creates a mini turmoil in the mind
to hide the truth. The best way I have found to get wriggle out of such
situations is to say that I do not clearly remember the facts. This is also not
hundred percent truth because in most of the cases, I remember everything; as
sharp and clear; as it could be.
The main
question is why people fall for temptation of fudging the facts, to ease out
things? Perhaps it is in the DNA itself. In the engineering college, I had a
classmate, who was habituated to fudging of facts to any extent. He initially
managed to succeed in his studies and later in his career. At a fairly young
age, he reached a top position in one of the quasi-Government firms. He however
met his nemesis, still at the helm. All untruths and lies caught up with him
and he was sacked.
All this
comes to mind because of the much published case of a minister of Delhi state
in India. This gentleman is believed (or at least it is alleged) to have fudged
his degrees ( B.Sc. and L.L.B) and had signed affidavits without least bother.
The facts seem to have caught up with him and if the facts are true, he may as
well spend part of his future life in jail.
In any
society, there are bound to be some black sheep like this minister. Whatever
society says, they will keep misbehaving and there is no real cure. Yet the
real danger comes when otherwise honest people for temptation of fudging the
facts for trivial gains. This is the real red flag for any society.
11th
June 2015
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