Truth... the way it is...

An excerpt from Shashi Tharoor's "riot"... a story about Truth...

Truth is elusive, subtle, many-sided... and the story goes like this -

A brash young warrior sought the hand of a beautiful princess. Her father, the king, thought if he was worthy. He asked the warrior to find Truth, to marry the princess. The warrior set out on the quest for Truth. He went to temples, monasteries, mountaintops where sages meditated and asked for it... and nowhere could he find Truth. Despairing one day and seeking shelter from a thunderstorm, he took refuge in a musty cave. There was an old crone there, with matted hair and warts on her face, the skin hanging loose from her bony limbs, her teeth yellow and rotting. But, as he spoke to her and asked questions, she answered, and he realized that he had come to the end of his journey. She was Truth. They spoke all night and when the storm cleared, the warrior told her he had fulfilled his quest, the search for Truth... and when he was about to leave he asked her ‘what shall I tell them at the palace about you’... the wizened old creature smiled - 'Tell them', she said, 'tell them that I am young and beautiful'

:-)

I was thinking, how many would have believed the warrior... if he had given the true description of Truth. Say, tomorrow if I encounter Truth I guess even I would give the same false description as given by him... because I would realize, why was it difficult for him, and I hope, anybody else tomorrow who encounter Truth will know... why it was for me...

Anything hidden, anything untrue has a purpose in itself... and may be... someday I could comprehend the circumstances in which they were... enacted...

I was smiling ear to ear at the end of the story... I liked it...

:-)

Elusive,
Darshan.