I have been trying out a new experiment today and I am determined to make a success of it. I am going to speak the truth and nothing but the truth! There, I have spilled it out on paper. No more white lies for me, no more diplomatic shading of the facts, and no more calling a spade – for want of a better word – a hammer!
My morning passes without much discomfort to myself, though I belatedly notice my housemaid going about her chores without much enthusiasm. I tell her that my tea is lukewarm, which it is, and add that she should chop-up the fruits properly because all the pieces in my breakfast bowl are not symmetrical.
Pleased with my progress, I go outside to inform my gardeners that they are not mowing the lawn correctly. Brushing their protests aside, I ask them to be more careful in the future and proceed to lecture them on the benefits of speaking the truth, under all circumstances.
Later, I go to my gym class and meet up with my old buddies. One of them asks me if I think her South Beach diet is showing results. I say I don’t think so because her belly is still too large, and though her face has shrunk, it is getting marred by premature wrinkles.
I see her blink twice to register my uncomfortable answer, but it makes no impact on me because I am on this mission, you see? I also tell her that all the weight-loss fads are humbug, and that she always looks fatter right after she goes on a diet, and then before I can tell her about further health risks, she abruptly turns and leaves me standing there, in mid-sentence!
Shrugging off the uneasy feeling at having upset my friend, I persist with my forthright behaviour. Truth hurts, I reason, one must be cruel to be kind, I mutter.
Once home I hear my mobile ringing and watch my domestic help pick it up. “Ma’am is in the bathroom,” she mumbles politely in the time-honoured tradition of white lies that I have taught her. “No, no, I am right here,” I insist, taking the cell phone from her.
“That is just an excuse she is supposed to tell the people I do not wish to speak to,” I explain earnestly to my caller.
Suddenly the instrument goes dead, and no amount of ‘hello, hello’ can retrieve the connection for me.
By now I am beginning to get apprehensive. All is not going well in my truth-experimenting world. Though nobody says anything outright, I do not like the reactions my true-speak is generating. Nevertheless, I blunder on.
Spouse comes home with an ultra-short haircut that looks awful. I tell him so. My cousin asks if her scarlet nail-polish looks stylish. I say it is completely over the top. I notice sullen faces, flashing eyes, surly manner and hasty exits as a reaction to my speaking of the plain truth. In a nutshell, nobody likes it.
“I wonder what is wrong with everybody today” I ponder loudly.
“What is wrong with you, Mom?” our daughter pipes up.
“I am simply experimenting with truth” I inform her.
“You want to live in a friendless world?” she questions.
“No, only in a truthful one”, I answer.
“Your experiment has clearly failed”, she says.
“Ouch! That hurt”, I exclaim.
“Now that is the absolute truth”, she grins.
By Nickunj Malik
|| features@portugalresident.com
Nickunj Malik’s journalistic career began when she walked into the office of Khaleej Times newspaper in Dubai thirty-one years ago and got the job. Since then, her articles have appeared in various newspapers all over the world. She now resides in Portugal and is married to a banker who loves numbers more than words.
