Look At Things From Different Angles

True, things are not what they seem very often.  This is a photo I had shot last Ramazan, August 2011.  This was a normal day for this Lily Line container ship.  The ship was cruising on very calm waters between Hulhulhe and Male’. All the difference is from the very low angle I chose to shoot this photo! This photo was not manipulated in any way or as photographers and artists say, this was not ‘photoshopped’ at all.  Did I twist the truth? Did I change anything? No, to both Qns! 

One of the most prolific of all Egyptian writers was Ihsan Abdel Quddous who passed away on Thursday Jan 12^th 1990, exactly 22 years ago!(more than 60 novels, numerous radio series, TV mini series and 49 films were based on his novels)  Ihsan Abdel Quddous wrote a very interesting story with the title “ I Do Not Lie, But I Make Up” Here make up means cosmetic make up we all  use.  In the story the   main    character is a young man who helps dig graves. He is also a university student who is ashamed of his poor background. He pretends to live in a v rich suburb of Cairo and if offered a lift in one of his friends’ cars he would never get off near the cemetery, but will insist on being dropped off at this suburb with beautiful houses.  When a relative of one of his colleagues dies, some of his classmates see him dig the grave and they confront him why he lied to them all these days, he says “I did not lie to you, I just applied some cosmetic (to my dull life).  He confronts a young woman and says, ‘do you not apply lipstick to your lips, don’t you powder your nose, don’t you comb your hair in a different way every day’? I live in the cemetery, would you have accepted me in your circles, had you known that? I pretended to live in a rich suburb to be accepted by you, I did not lie to mislead you, I just used make up”!!

Politicians & diplomats are perhaps the most famous of all spin doctors. So famous are they for saying something and meaning something else, an ordinary folk like you and I may need a dictionary! What does an Ambassador do? He lies abroad for his country! But in the mean time till we are employed by this ‘elite’ sector, please adhere to what we were taught in Kindergarten: Honesty is the best Policy, don’t be a fan of white lies, grey lies or lies of any colour.

Thank You!