My mother didn’t raise me on just verses from the scriptures or moral science textbooks. She also raised me on stories of her two brothers—one a top ranking officer who flew fighter jets with the Indian Air Force, and the other who led troops as a proud officer of the Indian Army.
And no, these weren’t sugar-coated tales of glory. These were stories of courage, of missions that went wrong, of men lost, and of strategic missteps that were later corrected—not hidden. In her own quiet way, Ma was teaching me something that she felt her brothers followed-plain honesty, something the country desperately needs to learn today:
Truth doesn’t make you smaller. It makes you stronger.
So, when I saw the Chief of Defence Staff recently speaking in Singapore about Operation Sindoor, I sat up a little straighter. Not because of the operation, but because of what he said. “We lost a few aircraft,” he admitted. Just like that. No dramatic music, no denial, no, “The opposition is playing politics.” Just plain old-fashioned honesty. He then went on to say that those losses made them tweak their strategy—and that tweak led to success.
Imagine that! A public servant admitting something didn’t go as planned and then—brace yourself—learning from it. I wept quietly into my coffee. Tears of joy, I assure you.
Dear netas, are you listening?
Because every time you deny a mistake, dismiss a report, or deflect with ‘it didn’t happen’, you’re not looking strong.
You’re looking insecure. Petulant. Like that child in school who fails a test and blames the pen.
Take a page from our generals. When they lose men, they don’t hide it in an affidavit filed in triplicate. They salute, they learn, they regroup, and they win. They don’t call The Economist anti-national or say Reuters is funded by Islamabad.
They face the facts. And that’s what makes them generals.
Meanwhile, our political leaders help lose lives—yes, lives—due to policy blunders, but won’t even admit a pothole was missed. They’d rather change the data, the definition, and sometimes even the subject. Lynching? “Isolated incident.” Hunger index? “Western conspiracy.” Freedom of speech? “No problem—just don’t speak!” Churches vandalized? “Isolated incident”
What we need is less spin and more spine.
Because when you lie about small failures, you don’t just fool the public. You fool yourself. And a nation that starts believing its own propaganda becomes dangerously blind. Blind to criticism, blind to correction, and eventually… blind to collapse.
So listen to the generals, dear ruling politicians. Learn that transparency isn’t weakness. That admitting you goofed up doesn’t shrink your stature. It builds trust.
And if you ever need a bedtime story, I’ll send you some of ma’s. They’re not in any scripture, but they’ve shaped better men than many of you, who now claim to lead us.
Jai Hind. And Jai Truth…!