This is neither prose nor verse, nor a testament, nor tenet, nor quotable quotes. Quipping couplets flag off a train of thoughts, certain are abstract philosophy; yet few are derisive of social evils, coated with sarcasm. Traversing through the quips, you will find you at both ends, alternatively, – the archer and the target! You are not alone, you will find me beside at whichever end you are tossed to! You and me are not the sole souls in its ambit. it encompasses every citizen of the world!! We mock many truths as myths and try to realise myths as truth mixing both mercilessly, making it very difficult for others to discern between: Truth And the Myth COUPLET QUIPS By A.R. NARAYANAN 26/480, 'Shreyas', Chakkalamuttu Road, North Fort, Tripunithura, Cochin 682 301. INDIA I dedicate this book to that entity who has granted me all mental and physical faculties and keeps me in the world whom I could not meet yet, in spite of my constant search. FOREWORD By Dr. D Anjaneyulu, M.A., B.L., D.Litt. Author and Journalist, Ex. President: Madras Press Club and Member: Authors Guild of India. When Mr. A.R. Narayanan rang me up to ask me for a foreword to his book of verse, I did not know what I was in for. Because I had not met him before, nor had I read any of his written work. But I was instantly impressed by the simplicity and sincerity, earnestness and anxiety in his voice, and I readily agreed. At the outset, I must say that I was attracted by the title of the work "Truth and the Myth – couplets Quips". 'Couplet' reminded me of the heroic couplets of Alexander Pope (Dunciad and the rest) and those of John Dryden (Mac Flecknoe and so on). 'Quips were reminiscent of the witticisms of Bernard Shaw, the epigrams of Oscar Wilde and the paradoxes of G.K. Chesterton. A combination of the two should be quite spicy, I imagined. Nor was I disappointed. For, I found them undoubtedly spicy and readable. The couplets in this booklet cover a wide range of subjects of general interest – of God and Man, of life and death, of truth and lies, of profession and practice, of politics and profit making and many other things. The concept of truth and myth seemed to remain upper most in the mind of the author, as when he says: "In the beginning was the word;........ word was truth; Now word of truth has become old-fashioned myth" He is refreshingly frank in the expression of his views, be they traditional or modern or a happy blend of both. This, for instance, of God and Man: "Who created man is unsolved mystery – But creation of God is mans mastery" "If everywhere the God fill Where, on earth, do devils dwell?" The author has no patience with man's capacity to deceive himself and others, and man's flair for hypocrisy. And rightly so too, as we are all sure to agree: "Say one thing and do something else Is the first step towards success".