"A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and Honest people are victimized first."

`Honesty pays in the long run' don't we hear this quite often. Be it any aspect of life we need to highlight the need for integrity,the most sought after trait a man must possess.
In an interview many learned HR managers seek to know what is your stand on integrity and one has to be very honest to push your case .
Very early in my career I was asked if integrity was important to me and my answer was in affirmation. `So how would I react to a particular situation' said the interviewer .My young and inexperienced mind blurted out the truth which would have cost me the job but appreciating an honest answer, did get to pocket it.Lucky I was.
Honesty did pay off and I worked hard and diligently till I reached the middle of my career. Challenges come as one reaches the middle of life and I couldn't have avoided them.
Surrounded by `thieves ' who stood protected by their `Godfathers' in plural left me high and dry. The values on which I had grown up stood diminished and my own survival became a question mark.
But to deal with the crooked ,one has to bend the little finger too often and it did work without sacrificing my own integrity.
But the hormone of honesty pumped furiously into my veins the `mantra of honesty' which made me straight and integral.
Spiritual mind encouraged me to pardon the guilty and set them on a path of reform.
As I looked around I found the dishonest growing in numbers and ready to pounce on the `naive' read honest .
Never before I had felt so helpless .The `thieves and Liars' thrived .
I had embarked on a journey of truth and was a robust tree who had now just begun to bear fruits of life. The only fault which lay with me was that my trunk was straight and I knew the `woodcutter' would not be far away who would axe me to ground in no time.
So did Chanakya say it right. How could I question the great man's wisdom who knew how this world behaved .I saw the truth in his wisdom so clear and blatant .

Disclaimer:the article has no relation to any living or dead, honest or dishonest person.