Ancient Wisdom. Modern Conclusions – Episode 2. Honesty Is the Best Policy until..

What started as a lesson in truth turned into a full-blown honesty apocalypse.

Hey readers,

This week in *Ancient Wisdom. Modern Conclusions*, I took a classic moral—*Honesty is the best policy”*—and tried following it for just one day.

Spoiler: things got out of hand. Way out of hand.

From school to the office to a romantic beach date, here's how my day of brutal honesty went.

Read on, if you dare.

“Why are you late?” The teacher stared at my three-year-old nephew, Miransh. He stared at me, gritting his teeth. Miransh knew why he was late to school. He knew his teacher wouldn’t like it. He knew he was too young to do what I suggested. I told him to not worry and just follow what I asked.

“I asked you something.” The teacher raised her voice.

Miransh looked at the teacher, then back at me. I gestured to him to go ahead. He looked back at his teacher. The teacher opened her eyes as wide as she could. It was some kind of scolding the elders do. Miransh’s mother usually did the same thing with her eyes every time she wanted to scold him.

I remembered what Miransh had done the last time his mother opened her eyes to scold. I tried to stop him, but before I could, Miransh had done the unthinkable. He spat on his teacher. My heart sank as I looked at the spit dripping from the pretty forehead to her lips. Before the teacher could do anything, Miransh ran away to his seat. Compared to what I had suggested, his choice made my advice look less filthy.

“I am really sorry, teacher. I didn’t know he would answer your question with his saliva.” I offered my handkerchief.

The pretty teacher took the handkerchief and wiped the spit dripping off her face. She gasped while shaking her head in disbelief. The entire class had witnessed the pour down on her face. Scolding Miransh would mean more ridicule by the little rascals.

She turned towards her desk, walked a few steps, and stopped. She walked back to me. “Why was Miransh late again?”

“He.. he was feeding the poor men on the streets with food.” I stuttered as I tried to collect my thoughts.

The teacher shook her head in disbelief. “At least the elders need to be honest. How do you expect your nephew to tell the truth if you don’t?”

I shook my head. My nephew was right about my advice. I had told him to lie about being late by faking charity. He knew his teacher wouldn’t buy it. He told me the teacher would question back. I told him to follow the basics of lying. Miransh didn't buy it. But he told me he would do something else. Something that his teacher wouldn’t dare to question him again. At least for the day. Now the spitting made sense to me. It was not out of anger. It was deliberate. I looked at Miransh. He looked back with a wink and a smirk on his face.

“I am…I am sorry, teacher.”

“You know what? We expect our students to always tell the truth. We tell them honesty is the best policy. We tell them to follow it in life to succeed.” The teacher said,

“You can’t be serious.” I chuckled.

The teacher stared at me. Pained expression replaced the disgust from the spit on her face. She kept staring at me, shaking her head in between, as if not knowing what to say. After a few painful minutes of staring, I realized I needed to leave the awkward silence. I apologized again and turned back.

“Wait. You are not sorry. I am sure you will repeat the mistake. Miransh will be late and you will lie again.” The teacher said, “I don’t care about being late, but I do care about honesty. I want you to follow so that your nephew learns it.”

I turned towards her. “Follow what, teacher?” I shrugged.

“Honesty. At least for a day. Trust me, it's the best policy.” The teacher said, “Just be honest today with everyone you meet. Tell me how you feel tomorrow. If it doesn’t work, I promise to never scold Miransh for being late. But you can’t cheat.” The teacher raised her hands towards me for a handshake like smugglers do after a deal. “Deal?”

It was tempting. First, I had nothing to lose out of the deal. The teacher would not bother us for being late if it didn’t work out. Second, I always had a crush on the teacher. And now she stood with her pretty hands stretched towards me. It was tempting to not feel her touch. So I stretched my hands towards hers, felt her soft hands, and nodded. “Deal”

Her touch mesmerised me. For a while, I forgot what the deal was about. I went to my office thinking about the teacher. As I sat at my desk, working on my computer, the attendant brought me a cup of tea. It was the only thing we received for free, twice a day, other than the regular scolding from my boss. I had developed a strong distaste for both.

“How is the tea, Ken?” The attendant smiled.

I forced the tea from my throat towards my stomach, looked at him, and closed my eyes. This was like a routine to me. I usually would just do the obvious. Lie. To his face. But as I closed my eyes, I remembered the promise I made to the teacher. It didn’t seem right to just be honest with the attendant. So I kept my eyes closed, hoping the attendant would vanish if I didn't answer for sometime. When I opened my eyes after twenty minutes, I realised two things. One, I had fallen into a nap. Second, the attendant sitting beside me with a huge smile on his face.

“You like it?” The attendant put a big grin on his face.

I tried shaking my head, but it felt like lifting a hundred-kilo dumbbell—impossible.

“You love it?” The attendant asked in a loud voice.

I tried moving my head for a shake. But I remembered the time when I tried to move the hundred kilograms dumbbell. It was impossible to move. My hands couldn’t handle the burden. Now my head was feeling the same when asked to move to give the attendant the answer. I kept staring at the attendant with a flat gaze. He looked back with a question on his face. I knew he wouldn’t get lost until I answered.

“I think the coffee was not good today.”

“Are you an idiot? I served you tea.” The attendant raised his voice, making heads turn towards us. His anger was palpable to everyone. Everyone looked at me and started gossiping. The attendant had disrespected me in front of my colleagues.

“Oh really? I am sorry to mistake this thing as coffee.” I stood up, raising the cup in my hands for everyone to see. “But it doesn’t taste like tea or coffee. It tastes like vomit.”

Everyone started murmuring among themselves as if I had disclosed a secret. The attendant's eyes bulged as he looked at me. “Vomit?” He clenched his fist.

“Yes, and that too distasteful vomit.” I said.. “Everyone hates it but they still drink the filthy vomit drink twice a day, without uttering a word. Nobody wants to tell you the truth. But I believe in honesty. Honesty is the best policy.”

The attendant moved his eyes to look at the fifty people present in the room. Most shook their heads as they slowly became invisible to the attendant’s eyes. He took it as a sign and left the room, filling the empty cups with his tears.

It felt good. For a moment. But as I looked at the disapproving look on my colleagues' faces, a sense of regret filled my mind. But It felt good to tell the truth for a change. Honesty might be a good policy, I thought, if we could get good tea or coffee from the next day.

The momentum I gathered from the first taste of honesty motivated me to implement the policy wherever I could. Emboldened by my truth-telling spree, I figured I’d take it up a notch. What’s honesty without a little corporate scandal?

“Why are you late on the Hexare report?” Shilpa, my female colleague, asked. “We are already running two days behind schedule.”

“Porn” I looked her in the eye.

“Sorry?” She thought she had heard it wrong.

“I. Was. Watching. Porn. All day.” I cleared her doubts. “Try it. You will have a better relationship with your husband.” Shilpa wrapped herself up and ran away.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with my wife?” Ashok said to Kishor near the coffee machine. Both their wives worked in our office. So everyone knew what was wrong with them.

“Give your wife a new dress or some jewellery.” Kishor suggested it to his friend Ashok. “That usually works for women.”

“Nope. That is just complimentary.” I told the men. “Get her transferred to our department instead. Our boss will ensure she gets what she wants.” I showed the two men the video of Kishor’s wife flirting with our boss, circulating in our office. “That’s what worked for his wife when she was transferred to our department.”

Kishor took shaky breaths, as if he was having a heart attack. Ashok asked me to call someone for help. I nodded and ran to inform Kishor’s wife. She had to know that her husband knew of the affair between her and our horny boss. At least she would be prepared if Kishor caught her in an embarrassing position. If he survives the heart attack and the cheating.

I was on a roll with the honesty policy I had downloaded from the teacher. I was just hoping I don’t have to use it on my boss. My job was important to me. But then the horny and ugly man called me into his office. So I went prepared with the video of him and Kishor's wife. I decided to blackmail him if he tried to get rid of me.

“Why are you telling everyone that I am having an affair with Kishor’s wife?” The horny boss cum bastard looked at me with a questioning look on his face.

“I didn’t tell everyone. I just told Kishor.” I shrugged while I pulled out the phone to get ready for sending the video to everyone. In case he fired me.

The horny boss walked up to me. “I don’t care if you tell Kishor or everyone in the office. But at least tell them the truth.”

“I did, Sir.”

“Nope,” the boss threw his hands in the air. “You told them I was having an affair. It’s not an affair. It’s just sex. Pure lust. No emotions.” The boss shrugged. “Only Sex. With Kishor or Ashok or anyone else’s wife. No affair. Understood?”

I nodded, pushed my phone back into my pocket, and turned to leave his cabin.

“One more thing.” The boss said. “Send me the link to the porn site.”

“Which porn site Sir?” I looked at him with a questioning look.

“The one that got you busy for not finishing the Hexare report on time.” The boss said. “I need it tonight. I am meeting Kishor’s wife after she returns from the hospital.” He winked.

I nodded and quickly exited the cabin and my office before the time. I planned to spend the rest of my day enjoying the beach. So I messaged Neha, my girlfriend, for the last two months, to meet me. She replied immediately with a yes. My mind reminded me of the policy I had adopted. I regretted it immediately.

We sat on the beach,holding each other's hands, watching the waves crashing before us. I had convinced her to keep the date a mute one. To prevent our relationship from crashing before my eyes. None of us was supposed to question or answer each other. Neha had agreed to it. She thought it was exciting to be in each other's company and feel each other’s presence instead of spoiling the moment with words. She kept looking at me and smiling. She then clicked our pictures together and posted them on Instagram. Neha tried to show me the pictures, but I just smiled and motioned her to follow our agreement for that day. She remained quiet for some time. Then she got bored with smiling and clicking and posting. The agreement didn’t last even three and a half minutes.

“What do you like about me?” Neha asked, turning towards me, smiling as wide as she could.

I encouraged her to follow our rule for the day. But she thought it was boring. “Tell me what you like about me? Tell no…please.”

I faked a smile and motioned towards the sea.

“Tell me already. Just one little thing!.” she said. “You have to tell me or I won’t let you go.”

“You asked me the same thing last time, didn’t you? I tell you the same thing every time. In every meeting.” I smiled and motioned again towards the sea.

“Tell me again, no?” Neha leaned towards me.

Last time I lied. I had told her I like everything about her. That she had no fault I could think of. That she was perfect, etc, etc. All Lies. No truth.

Because of the honesty policy, I couldn’t lie anymore. And I didn’t want to tell the truth, either. Also, I didn’t know what I liked about Neha. I was just bored with not having a girlfriend, so I proposed to the only female on my list. She agreed immediately. But if I told her the truth, I would go back to boredom.

And I couldn’t even think of anything good in Priya. She was average looking, if not ugly. Her face reminded me of our old male class teacher. Even the sex was bad, if not pathetic. In fact, it depressed me, every time. It made me question my existence.

I felt the waves crashing on my feet. “Why don’t you ask me something else for a change?” I said.

“Ok fine.” Neha nodded, thought for a while and said. “What do you hate about me?”

“Hate?” I nodded as I considered the answer to the question. Somebody flooded my mind with so many answers. Maybe it was God. He must have been tired of all the nagging.

“Tell me.. I know there’s not much to hate in me. But there must be a tiny thing that you don’t like.” Neha leaned against my shoulders and looked at me.

I shook my head. She pulled my shoulders towards her. “Tell me.. Tell me. Tell me.”

I gasped, shook my head, and clenched my teeth. “I hate your nagging.”

Neha scrunched her brows as she considered what I said. “Ok.. I don’t nag but... That’s a small and tiny thing though. Tell me something more relevant and bigger? Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell now that you started this topic. "

I shrugged the feeling of pulling my hair. “It’s a small thing for you? Nagging is the biggest issue not just for me, but for all of mankind. Not just for this time, but for ages.” I stood up and tried to focus on the waves to calm myself.

Neha sat there. Quiet. For a minute. “So you think I nag?” she said, “I don’t remember doing so. Maybe you should remind me. Common tell me. Tell me.. Why are you quiet, tell me?”

I breathed out a huge parcel of air, pulled my hair, and said, “Now. You are nagging now. You were nagging on the train today. You were nagging on the message and the calls.” I opened the phone to show her.

Neha tried to open her mouth. Maybe to nag more. I motioned her to be quiet. “You nag all the time even in awkward situations.”

“Like when?”

“Like when we have sex.. You keep on nagging me. “Do it. Do it. Do it,” you kept nagging—like a malfunctioning speaker on loop.. “I mimicked her voice.” Of Course we were on the bed to do it. Weren’t we?” I threw my hands in the air. “I literally doubted myself whether I was not doing it?”

Neha stared at me without answering.

I continued. “Then when I was at your place, you kept pushing the toast and the biscuit in my mouth. You kept saying...Have it. Have it. Have it. Although there wasn’t any room left in my mouth. I could have died of choking. That too, from the biscuit or the toast.” I gasped, thinking of the day. “But then you weren’t done. You forced your mom to look at me. Look mom. Look at him. Look at him, no? Look. Look. Look. Your mother had no choice but to look at my stuffed mouth.”

I shook my head as more embarrassing thoughts poured into my mind. “You nag so much that I wake up every day not with the ten alarms I set but from your nagging voice in my head.”

I turned. I wasn’t done with my honesty about the things I hated about her. In fact, it was just a start. But Neha didn’t like the truth. She stood up, breathed heavily, giving me a stare and walked away.

I carried on with the rest of my night, telling the truth to everyone in my dreams. I don’t remember how I implemented the policy though, but an image of a dog biting on my ass was the constant image my mind generated in the morning.

After following the honesty policy for twenty-four hours, I was standing before the teacher.

“So, did you practice the honesty principle yesterday?” The pretty teacher smiled as I and Miransh stood before her, late as usual.

I smiled back, thinking of how I had successfully followed the policy and how it made me feel.

I had also decided to tell her the results of the policy- that our attendant prepared a new version of a drink which doesn’t taste like coffee or tea or vomit or any human drink. And that Shilpa, my colleague, watched the porn site with her husband and got hospitalized after practicing the positions. And Kishor got back at our horny boss by having an affair with his wife. And that he claimed it wasn't an affair. It’s just sex. And that our horny boss posted his own videos on the porn site and became an instant hit. And Neha? Neha just nagged me to have sex for the entire night by encouraging me to - Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it.

“Yes, I did. I followed the honesty policy.” I said, recollecting the successful implementation of the policy.

Her smile and sparkling eyes told me that the teacher was impressed. But then the smile vanished. She took her eyes off me and directed towards my nephew. She opened her eyes as wide as possible, as if to scold him. “So why are you late again today?”

Miransh breathed noisily as he stared at the teacher and then at me. But I shook my head in disbelief. After twenty-four hours of following the honesty policy, all she cared about was why we were late? The teacher didn’t care what happened with the attendant or Shilpa or to me after Neha nagged me to have sex. She also didn’t care to follow her own promise.

The teacher had promised me to not bother us again even if we were late. I had tried to convince Miransh about what his teacher had promised. But he was skeptical. Now the teacher wasn’t honest with her own promise? Wasn’t honesty the best policy anymore.?

I had lived twenty-four hours of brutal honesty—ruined a tea legacy, caused two breakups, nearly got fired, and broke up with Neha over toast and trauma. All because of her damn "best policy."

As Miransh stared at me, I heard the teacher speak again. This time louder. “Why are you late? Tell me, why are you late?” I closed my eyes. It reminded me of Neha. I opened it immediately. I looked at the teacher. She stared back and asked me the same question. “Why are you late?”

I reminded her of the promise. “You are an idiot. Really.” She smirked while shaking her head.

Idiot? Really? Gosh, it hurt. She thought I was an idiot for asking her to follow her own policy.

I knew what I had to do. I looked at Miransh. He nodded. I took a step back, pulled in as much air as I could and threw a huge spit on the pretty teacher’s face.

Miransh handed a handkerchief to the teacher as he looked at me and winked. The pretty teacher wiped the saliva dripping from her forehead towards her lips while I ran away as fast as humanly possible.

Modern Conclusion- Honesty is the best policy…until you are at the receiving end.

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💬 Did honesty ever get you in trouble?

Let me know in the comments—because let’s be real, we’ve *all* swallowed bad tea and worse truths at some point.

📬 If you enjoyed this, subscribe for more weekly episodes of *Ancient Wisdom. Modern Conclusions*. And hey, if you’re new here, check out [Episode 1] (Yes, that one with the gas problems).

—KYG