So Is This A Real Story?

My Thoughts · 29 Jun 2014

Whenever we hear a story, the first question that comes to our mind is to know if it is the real story or the made-up one. But is there anything like a real story?

To understand it better, let us take a look at the following situation.

In a class, there were two good friends, Sukant and Sushant. For an exam, both of them scored ‘A’ grade and thus, planned a party for their friends. At the party, when friends asked Sukant how he was able to score well, he replied:

“I had planned my entire study efforts. I did lot of hard work to prepare notes, and spent good amount of effort in revising all the subjects. Finally, due to my hard work, I was able to get good marks.”

All the friends appreciated Sukant’s hard work and then asked the same question to Sushant. He said:

“I regularly meditate and pray to GOD to help me in understanding all the concepts properly. GOD has always helped me in life and due to his support, I was able to score well in the exam”.

Here, we have two stories, Sukant’s story and Sushant’s story. As per Sukant’s story, hard work is all that matters. On the other hand, Sushant’s story suggests that one should believe in GOD. Which story is the real one?

For our modern and so-called “secular” thoughts, the first story appears to be the real one. But the second situation gives a different picture:

In their next exam, both of them could not score well and ended up with “C” grade. This time, there was no party (of-course), however their friends wanted to know what went wrong with Sukant and Sushant. They replied with:

Sukant: I had actually worked harder as compared to the previous exam. However, this time, due to difficult question papers and strict corrections, I could not score well.

Sushant: I think I was proud of my success in the previous exam and GOD didn’t like it. Thus, GOD gifted me with lesser grade as part of his punishment for my ego.

Now, we again have two stories. This time, both of them clearly accept that their earlier stories were not valid. Sukant accepts that personal hard work is not the only thing that shapes the final result while Sushant accepts that prayers and meditation alone does not help completely. So do we have a real story now?

Frankly speaking, all our stories are based on our viewpoints. Our viewpoints are based on our experiences that we remember. What we remember is based on the capacity of our memory, which is influenced by our interests. We all have different interests and as such have a limited viewpoint.

Thus, I prefer to look at any story for what it is, just another story that describes the viewpoint of a storyteller. For me, there is nothing like a real story.