A few years ago, a cop came to my home and asked whether I would like to get my passport on time. I said, “Yes”, and slammed the door, smiling. I didn’t know he wanted a bribe.

For much of my life, I didn’t know people don’t always mean what they say. A normal child knows this at the age of 4, but I was 26 when I came to terms with this. I take words literally, and this was at the root of most problems. It has been a tough row to hoe, because there were lies, lies everywhere. I called them on their lies. But they had no idea what I was talking about because they believed their own lies.