Этический дилемма: почему автор считает, что пожилым людям иногда лучше говорить ложь, чтобы сохранить надежду

Advertisement When the truth is not enough Vishal Bhargava | Aug 12, 2026, 04:00 IST When the truth is not enough Sometimes the elderly don’t deserve the truth. They deserve something more. They deserve to keep hopes alive. Even if that hope is based on a lie Three years ago, a distant friend reached out to me regarding his home purchase. He had booked a home in a glamourous project with big dreams in a trending neighbourhood. The project stalled midway. He was not as dejected as his father, who had lived his life primarily in a 1BHK apartment of an old building in an unfashionable location. The elderly father was 75 years old, weak and with frequent health issues. He asked me: “Will I ever get the chance to live that dream?” It was the right question to the right person but to probably the wrong personality. Without beating a heartbeat, I responded truthfully and bluntly: “No. The project does not have a future.” It was an easy forecast to make. The developer was a certified crook with a habit of periodically changing his company name to conceal his past misdemeanours. His track record of betraying every stakeholder was impeccable. His approach to every roadblock was to conceive of a fraudulent strategy. There was no reason for the friend or his father to be optimistic. Fourteen months later the friend’s father passed away. His visits to the builder’s office in search of updates were frequent even in his last days. Unfortunately, the absence of any updates only made him more sceptical. A man who had struggled for decades in anticipation of a comfortable future could never realise his dream. The post-mortem revealed that a medical issue was the cause. The science is proven. Yet there is a non-scientific perspective which highlights that the absence of hope makes the final years even more torturous. The misery kills faster. I have often thought about that case to understand if there is a better way to handle such situations. For the young and middle-aged population that have a long life in front of them, my constant view is that the guidance should always be honest with no filters. The truth hurts. But it also enables faster recuperation. The question is how does one deal with elderly people with a short life ahead who are trapped with an unlucky home purchase? It’s an ethical dilemma and eventually boils to a simple question: Do you speak the truth and kill the hope or speak the lie and keep the hope alive? My own view on this has evolved in recent years. Earlier my feedback was ruthlessly honest. The response would be intelligent and informed. I have now come around to the view that it is better to be instead wise and informed. It is wiser to colour the truth – even to the point where it can be categorised as a lie. The spectrum of responses is wide, from “construction will resume soon according to brokers”, to “project is being taken over by a bigger and better player”, to “the finances have been arranged”. Or even almost bizarre ones like “the builder now wants to do the right thing for his buyers”. None of them will happen. But it doesn’t need to be for an elderly person struggling it out in his last few years. At that age and stage, a person often just needs something to look forward to. You remove that – the existence becomes painful. Sometimes people don’t deserve the truth. They deserve something more. They deserve to keep their hope alive. Even if that hope is based on a lie. Vishal Bhargava tracks Mumbai’s real estate It was the right question to the right person but to probably the wrong personality. Without beating a heartbeat, I responded truthfully and bluntly: “No. The project does not have a future.” Advertisement It was an easy forecast to make. The developer was a certified crook with a habit of periodically changing his company name to conceal his past misdemeanours. His track record of betraying every stakeholder was impeccable. His approach to every roadblock was to conceive of a fraudulent strategy. There was no reason for the friend or his father to be optimistic. Fourteen months later the friend’s father passed away. His visits to the builder’s office in search of updates were frequent even in his last days. Unfortunately, the absence of any updates only made him more sceptical. A man who had struggled for decades in anticipation of a comfortable future could never realise his dream. The post-mortem revealed that a medical issue was the cause. The science is proven. Yet there is a non-scientific perspective which highlights that the absence of hope makes the final years even more torturous. The misery kills faster. I have often thought about that case to understand if there is a better way to handle such situations. For the young and middle-aged population that have a long life in front of them, my constant view is that the guidance should always be honest with no filters. The truth hurts. But it also enables faster recuperation. The question is how does one deal with elderly people with a short life ahead who are trapped with an unlucky home purchase? It’s an ethical dilemma and eventually boils to a simple question: Do you speak the truth and kill the hope or speak the lie and keep the hope alive? My own view on this has evolved in recent years. Earlier my feedback was ruthlessly honest. The response would be intelligent and informed. I have now come around to the view that it is better to be instead wise and informed. It is wiser to colour the truth – even to the point where it can be categorised as a lie. The spectrum of responses is wide, from “construction will resume soon according to brokers”, to “project is being taken over by a bigger and better player”, to “the finances have been arranged”. Or even almost bizarre ones like “the builder now wants to do the right thing for his buyers”. None of them will happen. But it doesn’t need to be for an elderly person struggling it out in his last few years. At that age and stage, a person often just needs something to look forward to. You remove that – the existence becomes painful. Sometimes people don’t deserve the truth. They deserve something more. They deserve to keep their hope alive. Even if that hope is based on a lie. Vishal Bhargava tracks Mumbai’s real estate