Telling tall tales can take a heavy toll

There are people who cannot help describe an ordinary incident without exaggerating it to the extent that it evokes laughter. They make it so spicy that the description sustains the listener’s interest for long. So much so that sometimes people insist that the person narrate more such incidents.

Well, to be honest, everyone exaggerates sometimes, but there are others who do it more than others. Their tall tales are an elaboration of anecdotes which happen to be of different lengths and of varying flavours.

I know of a person, Ravi Vyas, who has an uncanny trait of exaggerating things. Having indulged in it over the years, it has become an incorrigible habit. You ask him anything and a hyperbolic statement would mechanically come out of him. This trait seems to have come to him in a natural way. He is loved for entertaining his audience to the hilt. Running in his late 70s, he has become the darling of his relatives as well as in the social circle he moves in.

A regular morning walker, he is keenly awaited in the park where his compatriots will not settle for anything less than a fresh anecdote that would refresh them the whole day.

Some openly say that they envy the old man’s jovial nature and his gaiety that would make a 20-year-old blush.

There is no field from where Vyas does not draw an anecdote to narrate in his own inimitable style creating roars of laughter. But some day, age takes its toll. With his advancing age this oldie has started developing health problems.

Interestingly, even in the face of chronic afflictions he does not lose his sense of humour. Vyas takes health complications in his stride and never shows any sort of anxiety.

At times he betrays his non-seriousness even in matters impinging on his survival. A person acquiring such disinterest in oneself is not an uncommon phenomenon. This person believes in living life to the brim irrespective of age and failing health.

“Don’t worry, be happy,” Vyas tells his audience.

The sad truth is: This gentleman is a loner. Being childless and a widower, he has evidently led a dreary life. Maybe he filled the void by regaling others with his humour and his typical way of presenting an anecdote.

Believe me, Vyas is not the only person who indulges in making overstatements. You, me, in fact, we all tend to magnify situations at some point of time just for the fun of it because it momentarily evokes cheers. And contrary to how some people describe, it is not fabricating a lie. Exaggeration is, therefore, not always a bad thing, especially if it means adding juicy details to an incident.

But habits die hard for some people like Vishal Barve, who like to magnify their problems to absurd lengths. He has eventually suffered irrevocably in ways beyond his imagination.

He had gone to an ophthalmologist where he blew up his vision problem out of proportion so much so that it resulted in unwarranted medication leading to total loss of sight in one eye. Surprisingly, Barve does not realise his folly even today.

My neighbour, Pawan Singh, is someone I avoid indulging in long conversations with. The reason is, yes, his habit of coming up with tall tales that become hard to digest after a point. He talks and talks, even without a subject. This habit of his recently got him into trouble at his doctor’s place.

Recently when he went to a surgeon after developing a hernia, Singh was, by all parameters, found fit enough to undergo surgery. But suddenly, the glib-talker ‘volunteered’ the information that only 15-20 per cent of his heart was working.

The surgeon threw up his hands, ruling out any possibility of the operation. Later, Singh realised his foolishness and corrected himself.

As a matter of fact, he had to produce proof that his heart was strong enough to take the strain. Needless to say, he had to apologise profusely several times for having spun this story.

The moral of the story is: No ailment - minor or major - is desirable. So, let us not exaggerate our health problems before the healer for it can mislead him and impair the diagnosis. What it could mean to the patient needs no elaboration.

A word of caution to the hyperbolic: Why not be truthful and avoid being a Vyas, Barve or Singh? Why play with your life?

■ Lalit Raizada is a journalist based in India.