Truth is Courage

“It is very easy to lie, but to speak the truth it needs lot of courage”.

What is the relationship between truth and courage?

In today’s world do we really know the significance of these two words?

Courage is conviction that helps you achieve your goals in life. Courage is an inner force that tells you that you need to act appropriately. It is the propelling force in life that steeds you far ahead of others; Courage is not something that can be handed over to you through lessons or you inherit it. It comes to you spontaneously when you are fighting for a cause which is true to you. Truth is that always triumphs in a world of treachery and malice. A faithful disciple of Jesus named Thomas once said that truth is whatever one believes in. Truth is the sense of righteousness, justice and freedom to express what seems right, even if the whole world is against you; truth is something that will never let you down.

“Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”

The soldiers who give up their lives in the battlefield are a true example of courage fighting for truth. The numerous martyrs, unsung yet heroes are examples of courage fighting against cowardice and falsehood.

The middleclass women of colonial India, swimming against the tide to make history are also classic examples of courage fighting for truth.

Whenever people move on the path of truth, they face many difficulties which try to stop them from achieving their goal. Only people who have courage or succeed in developing courage find success in this path.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

~ Nelson Mandela

One such living legend, who defied all the odds to fight the apartheid in South Africa or we can say in other words, fight for truth in South Africa, was Nelson Mandela. He was a person who was deeply motivated by the Mahatma’s principle of truth and non violence and had fought for the equal status of one and all in a country where racial discrimination was at the peak. He was imprisoned for 18 years but he knew that he was fighting for a cause, he was fighting for truth and it was the presence of conviction that made the Nelson Mandela we know today.

“Truth and courage are the two different sides of the same coin”.

If one observes carefully, he will find out that courage and truth are interrelated. It was a chilly December morning, about 5 years ago, when I first learnt how to miss classes without teacher’s permission. I got carried away with a group of friends who were quite capable of passing the buck to me, which I realized much later; perhaps it was too late by then. Nevertheless, as planned I had managed to give my subject a miss, however as Mr. Fate had plans for me, it turned out that we were caught by the Headmaster, strolling around the school corridors. We were literally dragged to his office, and then questioned. As expected my friends made all flowery stories and proved their innocence, however I decided to say honestly, our intentions thinking that the headmaster would excuse me ‘cause I had taken the trouble of speaking honestly. Conversely it turned out that I was the one who was punished, caned and reprimanded for the group’s behaviour. I returned home in tears and promised myself that what may come, I will never speak the truth again. But, a soft little voice spoke inside me, which reminded me of the story I had heard as a toddler that truth prevails longer than lies and it made me change. I felt a lot better as a human being, I knew it from within that I was not tearing my soul into pieces by lying every time, I knew that I was an honest person and that day on I realized that the courage needed to lie is far less than needed when we are speaking the truth.

“One can use his courage to speak the truth, but to speak the truth is itself a sign of bravery”.

Yakub Memon, one of the prime accused in the 93 Serial Blasts that shook India, had agreed to comeback to India, as he believed that he was innocent. But again Mr. Fate had other games to play with him, when he returned to India after a brief stay in Dubai he was arrested at the Bombay Airport with charges of conspiracy. However, his intention as publicized in a popular Indian Daily was to help the Government track down the culprits and become an approver. This is another example of a person who had the courage to come up and say the truth and justify his innocence but was stopped short by an external force or Mr. Fate who put a tag around his shoulders labeled ‘Terrorist’. However the real culprits are lurking around somewhere, whilst the person who spoke up is in jail, sentenced to death.

Yakub knew that he was not wrong; however the world got to see the wrong side of him.

In this society, a question lies in every single soul, shall we risk our lives, shall we risk our image, and shall we speak the truth? Or should we take the easier road, say a lie and remain Scot free.

The sad part is that, when a person steps up to fight for honesty and for the betterment of mankind, and external force stands up to pull him down into an abyss from where there is no escape. That person is ridiculed and punished for a crime he hadn’t committed, but he doesn’t give up…he knows he can still fight it out till the last breath…he knows that he has courage! Truth is courage! Truth is courage!

“With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”