If you pass this test, you have cleared the TEST OF TRUTH!
“Honesty is the best policy,” this is a beautiful quote which has stood its ground through decades and decades. Every parent wants his children, to be honest, speak the truth, and be ethical in his behavior. The teacher has similar expectations from her children. But the question is whether the teacher or the parent do things which they expect from the little innocent children?
But with the passage of time, sticking to the TRUTH is becoming more and more difficult. No manager would tell his salesman to speak the TRUTH, he would adamantly tell his men to GET THE DEAL DONE and he does not have an option because other brands are doing the same thing.
Maybe, this definition of the word TRUTH is getting replaced by what I call as FLEXIBLE TRUTH or ADAPTIVE TRUTH or CORPORATE TRUTH. This can be defined as Stick to the truth as far as possible but be ready to speak otherwise when necessary. So which kind of TRUTH do you believe in? Is it the traditional TRUTH which is advocated by the sages of the past. Or is it the modern FLEXIBLE TRUTH which is used mostly in the corporate world?
So I will ask you a few basic questions which will help you determine what kind of TRUTH you believe in!
LET US TAKE THE TEST OF TRUTH
Suppose you have a review meeting with the top management at the end of the year. You have to give feedback about all the employees about their performance at the end of the year. Now one of the employees comes to you and tells you to tweak a little matter and represent it to the management in a different form. Now that matter is very minuscule and it will have no impact on the organization. That employee is ready to pay 1 rupee to you for that. If you straight away refuse, “Congrats! You should be proud that you have passed the TEST OF TRUTH, THE REAL TRUTH which is advocated by Jesus Christ or Shree Ram.
But now the same employee is ready to pay you 100 rupees…What will you do then? Have you still refused it? Fantastic! You are the epitome of TRUTH. But then the very employee is ready to pay you 1 lac rupees…later on, 1 million and then he can stretch up to 1 billion. You might think that “Anyhow the thing which this employee is telling is very trivial and will have no impact on the future of the organization. So what is the problem?”
Hold on, Bro! You have gradually moved from the traditional TRUTH to the CORPORATE TRUTH. Don’t get embarrassed by this. This test is a mirror which will help us analyze our mindset and values of our life. But if you look at this from a realistic point of view, then this thing is becoming very dangerous for society. If speaking TRUTH will not allow us to survive in this society then there is something seriously wrong with this society and serious action needs to be taken for that.
Not sticking to values, speaking blatant lies, getting involved in corruption, is doing nothing but deteriorating the quality of thinking of the entire world.
I am not here to discuss any solution for that, but I will share with you a very quote that I read on an advertising hoarding near a temple. It read, on an advertising hoarding near a temple. It read HONESTY IS STILL THE BEST POLICY. The quote is still the same but the word STILL pleads us to stick to the old definition of TRUTH.
