This was difficult then… telling the truth puts us in trouble (it’s a common myth) which even I believed till I had not experienced this. I generally speak the truth and avoid lying as it forces you to make up 100 more things to cover up the lie you have uttered. But at times there are instances when keeping quiet or lying help you avoid the big trouble and in fact is a great temporary solution. I say temporary because any lie would get eventually detected and then life would be hell.
This incident happened when we were in the final year of the college and unlike all teenagers we felt a certain thrill in lying our whereabouts to our friends and parents and would enjoy it. So on this heavy rainy day when most of the people preferred staying home, some of us had the sudden urge to go to Lonavla and party it out overnight. Since overnight was a strict no-no for me then, I refused, but shopped all the stuff (alcohol, cigarettes and dry food packets) locally with eight of my friends and even helped them pack and saw them off. All of us informed at our house that these 8 had been chosen by the college for a botanical tour organized by the college and were being taken by the college bus for the same as batch representatives. Actually, they were about 5 bikes between them and they would reach Lonavla in about 2 hours. They should reach by 10 in the night and it was agreed that they would call me on my landline once they reach. So I was home on time expecting their call. It was past 11pm and I had almost given up on them calling me when the phone rang. I quickly grabbed the receiver and what I heard from the other side shook me. My friends had reached at about 9.45pm, except 1 bike having 2 of my friends Suraj and Rocky. All my other friends had waited till almost 11.15 and then called me up hurriedly to tell this and hung up. I was in a fix and to be honest a bit scared. Biking on a rainy night, reaching Lonavla it was not a good idea, I thought. Now if I kept quiet and god forbid if something would have happened to my friends I would never be able to forgive myself. If I told the truth all my friends would lose their freedom thereafter if something had gone wrong with Suraj and Rocky and on the other hand, if by God’s grace all would be fine then I would be looked down upon as a betrayer since all friends had agreed that they would wait for Suraj and Rocky and not inform our parents.
It seemed like a long wait, but at 12.30 am when I could not sleep, I woke up my dad and told him what had happened. For a moment I could see the seething anger in his eyes for me lying in the first place, but the next moment I read in his eyes the concern for my friends. He immediately put on a shirt and pulled up a trouser and almost dragged me outside after making a few calls to the parents of Suraj and Rocky. We met at a common spot where my father gave them details of our Lonavla plans and how we had hid the facts initially. Suraj and Rocky’s parents were worried and we started off from Mumbai in 2 cars on the lookout for my friends asking at all possible stopovers. It was past 5am in the morning and we were very worried about these two. In between we had called up the resort where my other friends had reached and they confirmed that Suraj and Rocky had not reached.
Finally, at Sajgaon, just some kilometers before Lonavla a Tea stall owner confirmed that previous night a bike had skidded off the road and two boys were badly bruised and taken to the village by the helpful villagers. We hurriedly went inside the village asking the whereabouts of my friends and found them sleeping in a village hut. The poor, but Lion hearted villagers had taken good care of them and offered them food and shelter and also had helped them put herbal medicines on their wounds. Since they had no major fractures they were not admitted to any hospital and since they were too shaken up they decided to rest the night in the village. We thanked the villagers and put Suraj and Rocky in the car and came back home. They were given proper medication and their woulds would heel soon. After a few days we all met for a small get together where Suraj and Rockys parents thanked my father and all praised me for being brave enough and telling the truth and I realized that it was a right thing to do always in life rather than hiding things for temporary solution to a problem. My whole approach towards life changed after that day.
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Uttpal K
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I have experienced a similar situation in my college days. I lied to my parents, got into a situation and then confessed the truth, and swore i would never lie to them again.
Thanks for sharing. Sachchai ki Jeet