Sekhar felt a wave of resentment. But he had decided to give the absolute truth. "Sir," he said, "I must tell you something. I did not correct those papers, nor did I ever intend to. I gave them to my students as you had given them to me. I cannot take the credit for their work."
The headmaster looked at him in shock. Sekhar continued, "I wanted to show you what it feels like to be deceived. To have someone lie to you and take credit for something they did not do. I hope you understand why I did this."
The headmaster was speechless. Sekhar left the room feeling both relieved and anxious. He had spoken the truth, but he wasn't sure how it would be received. Would he face consequences for his actions? Or would he finally be respected for his honesty? Only time would tell.
Read the following passage from "Like the Sun," in which Sekhar has decided to both give and take "absolute truth."
He received a call from the headmaster in his classroom the next day. He went up apprehensively.
"Your suggestion was useful. I have paid off the music master. No one would tell me the truth about my music all these days. Why such antics at my age! Thank you. By the way, what about those test papers?"
"You gave me ten days, sir, for correcting them."
"Oh, I've reconsidered it. I must positively have them here tomorrow..." A hundred papers in a day! That meant all night's sitting up!
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