I probably lie at least once a day, if I'm being totally open about the topic at hand. Whether it's ignoring the homeless man outside my office building who asks me for money (telling him I don't have any to give), telling my parents I have to be somewhere and then go elsewhere, or complimenting my friend on his new boots that I actually think are hideous; there tends to be at least one instance during the day when I have to stretch the truth just a smidgen, either to save myself or others. Though the notion that lying is innately immoral has certainly been drilled into our brains since they first began forming, there's certainly some hypocrisy because let's face it -- everyone lies.

For those of you who might be sitting there, shaking your head in disproval, hop down from that high horse of honesty and get real -- you know you do it, too. I actually think that to a certain extent there is no avoiding lying; at some point even the most honest human being do lies.

We know how many times we have lied to our parents and how many rules we have broken. We lie to our parents about anything and everything. From what you spent a 1000 rupees on, to what movie you went to (and with whom), to whether you were hanging out with friends your parents disapproved of, to how you spent your afternoons while parents were at work. People lie for different reasons depending on the situation. But telling the truth is not always easy. A bunch of emotions clutter inside and make it hard to think, and you end up telling a lie.

We want everyone to be honest, but it is not clear what to do when honesty bumps up against other values like caring about other people, and their feelings. People say they want to hear the truth, but they mean it the other way around. Would you tell someone if they asked, "Tell me all the things about me you don't like, all the things that annoy you?" Would you tell him/her? I don't think so. Approximately 96 to 98 per cent of the people say lying is morally wrong, which would be glaringly similar to the percentage that admits to lying. So if we know it's "wrong," why do we do it?

Well, lying isn't the best way to get what you want, but sometimes, it seems that it's the only way these days. I try to justify lying at times by asking myself how I would compete with people who have been given advantages far superior to any I have enjoyed. The morning of the college mock test, a friend of mine in management e-mailed me the harder questions, so I could get a higher score. I pretended I had never seen the paper before. At times, I feel guilty about doing such deceitful things to go ahead, but it seems society has allowed for immorality and unethical behaviour, at least marginally. Sure, it's often said that 'cheaters never prosper,' but when they're the ones succeeding, leaving you behind in the dust, are you expected to lag behind with your morals or leave them there and hop on the 'lying express'?

Moral or immoral, good or bad, white or black, we're all still going to lie anyway. You can't condone lying just because you can't stop people from doing it. Lying will never be good, but the fact is that people only want to hear things that make them feel better about what they are doing, wearing or thinking. As far as telling a lie is concerned, a lie is a lie. It doesn't matter how you classify it, all you're doing is, justifying your reasons for lying. There is no justification for lying. All it means is that you are being dishonest with yourself, and the people you're lying to. Also, it dishonours both the liar and the one or ones being lied to. Why don't we just tell the truth and be done with it because with the truth, one never has to 'remember'.

Telling the truth may come with the risk of hurting someone's feelings, but telling a lie could risk the relationship with that person altogether. It's just not worth it. So, there is a way of telling the truth that won't hurt people much; it's called being tactful.