Monday, June 9, 2008

My experiments with lies

Long back, Gandhiji had written a book called “My experiments with truth” in which he had shown to the world the power of truth. One of his stories which touched me most was the incident in which he had stolen a piece of gold from his brother to eat meat. But in the end when Gandhiji confessed to his Dad by writing a letter, his dad cried a lot and tore away the letter (what a man). I have often imagined that what would have happened if I had done the same. The answer is obvious; my dad would have beaten the shit out of me. So the experiment with truth is something which Gandhiji can afford but not me. So I preferred to do experiments with lies rather than truth. At least I have a chance to escape unscratched.
My dad was a person who could lose his temper very soon. Once he loses his temper no one is sure what he is going to do. Some times Mom reminds me how he had thrashed me in two occasions when I was 3 yrs old. One was when I hurled the vacuum cleaner on the floor and it broke into 3 pieces. The other was when I broke the deck of cassette player on the second day it came home. It seems I was an important factor in keeping his temper alive all the time. He knew I was hard as a rock. So I had to bear everything. I wouldn’t complain about it either. Dad grew up in tough conditions and had put a lot of hard work to attain what ever he had attained now. So he was a person who believed that during the time of studies I should only study. His justification was that I could enjoy when I become self reliant. To make things worse I didn’t have many marks during my engineering. But once this part of life is over one can never get it back. And I am not a person who is going to lose it so easily.

About my experiments, I have lied a lot, but two of them were very close incidents which I won’t forget that easily. The first one will be named
Part One which shows my thinking capability and my ability to react in tight situations (Seriously, I am not bragging about myself:-D)

I did my engineering in a famous college or rather school called “Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology”. As the name suggests it was a school. No bunking classes and fooling around. If classes are bunked, one needs a proper leave letter the next day. One fine Saturday when I was in first year (we had classes on Saturdays too), the session after 12 was cancelled and we were asked to do some reading exercises for the rest of the day. As usual most of the class was not in a mood to study. I, Joey, Thadus and Dicku was planning about what to be done. Joey came up with an idea

J: Let’s go for a Film
D: Well..thats fine. But for which film shall we go?
T: I heard that “The recruit” is a good film. We can go for that
I: That sounds fine

So every thing was fixed. Our college was in a valley. There were no other modes of transportation other than the college bus or private vehicles. Else one have to take a 3 km walk in the scorching sun. We couldn’t go through the front gate coz our HOD
Ramettan would always be on watch. So the 7 of us left for the film. It was a good film and I reached home by 8.
The next Tuesday I heard that Ramettan had taken attendance on Saturday. He was calling the parents of those who were absent. He had called up Joey’s and Thadus parents. They had told their parents the truth, so they didn’t find any difficulties. But my case was different. Since I didn’t get any call till then I thought he might have missed me. So far, so good.

That evening I came back home at 5 and I was having my snacks. My dad and mom was near me talking about general things. I heard the telephone ringing. I was expecting a call from my friend. I picked the phone

Voice from the other side: Hello. Is this the residence of Tony Thomas
I: Yes.
V: Can I speak to someone who is responsible for Tony Thomas
I: Ya sure. One sec
(I could identify that voice even in the worst drunk state. Ramettan had finally called up. A train of thoughts went through my mind about the best action I could follow. Should I change my voice and say that I am Tony’s Dad. But is my voice too deep for that? Any way it’s worth a try. But if the cover is blown then things could become worse. Ok ….I’ll do it).

Dad: Who is on the phone…….
(Crap….what is dad doing here. Plan A is not to going to work out with him standing next to me. Ramettan is also waiting at the other end. No point in cutting the phone. That will make him suspicious. He will call again. What should I do……………………)

I : Its for you dad.
Dad. Who is it.
I: I don’t know.
(With a half smile and a half frown, dad picked the phone from me)

Dad: Hello , Thomas speaking
D:Ahem
Ramettan:…………………………
Dad:Oh
Ramettan:…………………………
Dad: Hmm
Ramettan:…………………………
Dad:Is it so

(I could see the gradual change of dad’s expression of happiness to surprise and anger. An outburst is imminent.)
Dad: Ok, I ll ask him. Thanks for calling. You are doing a good job. Thank you. Bye.

He kept the phone and turned to me.

Dad: Where were you on Saturday evening?
Me: I was at Dicku’s house.(Plan B came from nowhere. If I said about the film then I would have been a goner. So I took a much safer route)

Dad: Who all were there with u there?
I: Joey, KK, Dicku and Thadus. (I added the name of my friend KK coz he was the most intelligent of the lot. He might come up handy)
Dad: Call Joey
I: He wont be there at home now
Dad: Then call Dicku
I: Even he wont be there either.
Dad: Then give me the number. I’ll call their parents.
I: I think Thadus will be at home.
Dad: Then give me the number.
I: I’ll dial the number.
(I punched the numbers. My plan B had a problem. The only person who knew about it was me. I had to convey this to Thadus for the plan to work. If one of his parent’s picks the phone then my cover will be blown. I prayed to God and kept my fingers crossed. I had to act fast. Dad can ask for the receiver any time)
Thadus picked the phone.

I: Hey, Didn’t we go to Dicku’s house on Saturday.
Thadus: Muhahahahahah (I couldn’t hear what he said next because dad had already snatched the receiver from me)

Dad: Where were you all on Saturday Afternoon?
Thadus: ……………………………..
Dad: Why did you go to his house?
(I knew Thadus had got the clue which I had given. Plan B worked)
Dad on phone: See your parents have sent u to the college so that you study hard. They will have a lot of expectations on you. You could have spent the afternoon studying rather than visiting your friend’s house………(The advice went for nearly 5 mins. Thadus could do nothing other than accept everything: D. Dad hung up the phone.)

Dad: Next time when you don’t have classes. You could either spend the time in the library or you can come home directly. Is it clear??

(Mom entered the room)

Mom: What happened?
Dad: He didn’t have classes on sat and he went to Dicku’s house. The HOD had called to inform that he was not in the college that after noon.

Mom: Your HOD is a very sincere person. He always wants the students to follow the right path. If you had gone for a film that day, dad would have killed you.

I: Do you think I’ll ever do that???


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