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The truth is, Bano was not a
very good liar. Brought up as he was on quotations like "Oh what a tangled
web we weave when first we learn to deceive" and "No matter what, in the end
the truth will always out," he was so scared he'd be caught that more often
than not he did get so. That was up to the age of 16.
Then he learnt a simple
trick. The problem, he told himself, was that since a lie was basically a
work of fiction, it was difficult to remember all the details.
Especially when these had to
be woven seamlessly into the truth, which of course being fact, followed its
own rigorous string of events. In other words, because truth was historical,
it was easier to remember.
So why not make a lie
historical too? All one had to do to achieve this was believe the lie. Oh
yes, and that belief had to be total, wholehearted and fundamental. There
were two things needed in order to succeed thought, reasoned Bano
impeccably. The first was, a particular lie had to be repeated as many times
as possible so as to form a solid base in one's memory from where minutiae
could be extracted easily and at will whenever required.
The second was that in order
for the lie to mesh flawlessly with reality and not leave telltale jagged
edges, more lies were needed. These acted like a smooth seal of wax which
flowed into all the ill-fitting cracks and covered them up forever as it
hardened.
For example when Bano was
asked if he lied, he would not simply say "No" and leave it at that because
it would be too abrupt and jarring with facts. He would always be careful to
add, "Well, that's not really true. I do lie sometimes you know-- like, hey
who doesn't, right ? But I don't make a life of lying".
By the time Bano was 60 he had
made such a life of lying and was so good at it that no one ever noticed.
Not his wife, children, relatives, friends or colleagues. Also, because he
had finished college, got a job, set up homestead and earned enough, he had
become so normal no one discerned the difference either.
In fact, he had become
exactly like most people. But when he was on his deathbed he had only one
regret. This was that no one had ever asked him why he lied instead of
telling the truth. Or if he could tell the difference. He regretted for he
could never answer these two questions without telling the truth. |
