Kiran Bedi called Hyderabad the corruption capital. Not very surprising for those staying here. We are quick to blame the government for the state of affairs. But how far are we, as citizens, responsible for this state of affairs? It may be a case of egg first or chicken first, but definitely we encourage corruption, even if in small ways. Let me elaborate.
We pay tips to servants, over and above the salary, so they do our work willingly. Auto drivers ask for extra, we oblige in exchange for the service they are providing us. You may say these are minor things. Well it starts that way. Next we are paying the auto driver extra to carry additional passenger. Next we raise a hue and cry as to how government is looking the other way when autos are crammed with school children.
We go for a movie and the booking is closed. There is a guy there offering ticket for a slightly hiked price. Or better still, we watch the movie at home renting a CD/DVD one day after the release of the movie and cry foul about piracy.
We visit a doctor, there are others waiting but we slip a note to the attendant and get past the queue. Is it not bribing?
We have a stortage of water at home and call for a water tanker. There is a waiting period, we are not willing to wait, so we beg the driver to divert some water to our house. Then we raise a hue and cry over water being sold in black. Did we not trigger off that situation?
We blatantly flout traffic rules and when the cop catches us, we grease his palm and escape. Then we bemoan the traffic situation and inefficiency of the cops in handling the situation.
The hand that gives bribe is as guilty as the hand that takes. Remember the economics theory of demand and supply (I am twisting it to suite my point). As long as there are people willing to pay extra, there will be people expecting extra. And it is a chain reaction. One pays extra and has to take it from some other place to compensate for it. So stop bribing, it will take time but have patience. That is the only way to set things right, in my opinion.
We pay tips to servants, over and above the salary, so they do our work willingly. Auto drivers ask for extra, we oblige in exchange for the service they are providing us. You may say these are minor things. Well it starts that way. Next we are paying the auto driver extra to carry additional passenger. Next we raise a hue and cry as to how government is looking the other way when autos are crammed with school children.
We go for a movie and the booking is closed. There is a guy there offering ticket for a slightly hiked price. Or better still, we watch the movie at home renting a CD/DVD one day after the release of the movie and cry foul about piracy.
We visit a doctor, there are others waiting but we slip a note to the attendant and get past the queue. Is it not bribing?
We have a stortage of water at home and call for a water tanker. There is a waiting period, we are not willing to wait, so we beg the driver to divert some water to our house. Then we raise a hue and cry over water being sold in black. Did we not trigger off that situation?
We blatantly flout traffic rules and when the cop catches us, we grease his palm and escape. Then we bemoan the traffic situation and inefficiency of the cops in handling the situation.
The hand that gives bribe is as guilty as the hand that takes. Remember the economics theory of demand and supply (I am twisting it to suite my point). As long as there are people willing to pay extra, there will be people expecting extra. And it is a chain reaction. One pays extra and has to take it from some other place to compensate for it. So stop bribing, it will take time but have patience. That is the only way to set things right, in my opinion.
Very true.Bribing hands are to be punished first and there will be no taking hands.Even for a delivery boy of cooking gas we offer more to stop him from giving away our cylinder to anybody.Let us lament for our crime which triggered the bribing.
ReplyDeleteGood observations. But bribing has become a way of life for us all. Only thing is variation in degree.
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