Long time ago when I had filled me orkut profile I had added an entry in the 'Turn Offs' section – Hypocrisy. I haven't yet edited it (not atleast till the time of writing this blog) and so when I realized how contradicting this was with my everyday life I thought why not just put this down.
Hypocrisy for the all years I have known it has had a negative existence but many a times it just works right. Come to think of it how many times do we just speak the plain truth. We always twist and turn the obvious to make it sound more amiable and less offending. Its not wrong either! Someone comes and asks you to comment on his/her new dress. You think its pathetic, the color is too loud and the design is boring but you say none of these. All you say is “Its nice” or the less hypocrite may say “I would have never chosen this for myself but it looks nice on you”. I do this all the time. Come to think of it what is the point in saying the dress looks horrible to someone who is probably just wanting a nice compliment. Common! It isn't a life threatening situation. Its an everyday one where most of us choose a practical and less offending solution. Often its more advisable to just say nice things even when you don't feel like it, not because the truth would hurt but because the truth may not really do something extraordinary. A false compliment might just light up someone's dull day whereas a true statement might worsen the already worst day of his life.
There are situations, however, where nothing but truth helps. There are people too who would expect nothing but an honest answer when they turn to you. That, I think, are the only situations and people with whom you should never be a hypocrite. Say the truth even if it hurts, simply because the person is much more important and deserves nothing less than the truth. If you mess up that time you mess up many things and lose much more than just a friend :)
As someone had rightly said - “Its alright to be honest as long as you know when to be honest”.
