The corrupt old and new

I remember the scene when my father refused a basket of fruits from his patient. The beaming face of the recovered patient turned sad and he left our house in a huff. My dad confessed, why he should accept a gift when he was being paid the salary by the government, let the former was an innocuous foodstuff.  

When I was in the college, I heard the public declaring that the corruption was on the rise, as they compared it to what it used to be in the olden days. As early as in the seventies, corruption used to be looked down upon as something abhorrent, and the bribe takers were talked about for being the antisocial lot. Even the perpetrators used to feel guilty and were remorseful. I was sure their spouses would be wearing their jewelry quietly in front of their bedroom mirrors.

The ‘culture’ of corruption took an ugly turn too soon. No longer the perpetrators feel so unabashed when the society itself took them for granted. The rousing reception extended to the tainted corroborates this fact. Nevertheless, the credit goes to the political class when corruption is their ticket to the party, it being the latter’s foundation. Eventually corruption is becoming the warp and woof of many commercial and social transactions too. The prices of some services/goods have a corruption angle to them, covert or overt, equal to a cess or VAT or premium. I wonder if this cost would be loaded as a factor in the modern risk management practices of businesses. When quoting the price or cost of something, the traders/ staffers are prone to demand something extra from the customers/users, which is said to be going into the corruption kitty of the middlemen, the top brass or their own cut for that matter. The muggers in the darkened alleys can be safely called the odd jobbers in the beginning of their career. 

The people stopped questioning why they are made a party to the seamy side of the various transactions. Do they have any other option than to live and get along with their day-to-day life? (Some would ask.) A wrong is always a wrong, in all the times. Pity our times, when an explanation has to be given to the spouse, why bribe is not insisted upon and collected up front, from the end users for some of the dearer commodities or services. On the other side of the irony, the bribe giver too should explain to the spouse, how best the whole deal was negotiated to their advantage, very deftly.  

Those tainted with the accusations or punishments for graft gloat on their ‘achievements’ feeling as if they are promoted to a new social strata of repute. One need not be shocked to come across a person telling with a glee that his or her property was recently raided by the tax officials. Next, we should be seeing him or her coming out with a riddle; whether or not he or she was going places especially when he or she had some humble beginning. 

The general public is looking at the corrupt as the heroes. The same thing is shown in the movies as well. The erstwhile villainy is rubbed on to the present day heroes and the people are strangely identifying themselves with the latter-day Robin Hoods. Of course, in the legend the rich were robbed from to be paid to the poor. Now it is the other way round. And the poor voters are forgetting this finer point while they vote in favor of the politicians who are tainted with corruption charges that are accepted by the courts for having the prima facie evidence. 

In economics too, new theories are gaining ground: but for the black money there will not be enough purchasing power with the people to keep the wheels of economy rolling, that it would be not possible to achieve a higher growth rate to be eventually unaffected by the global slowdowns, etc. The boom for the luxurious commodities is on the rise, thanks mostly to the ill-gotten money plush in the society's hands, that comprises a majority with a limited means.

It is high time the mindset of our society is changed for good. All the sleazy monies and the property attached by the government should be utilized for making the society conscious of this evil menace, and teach them how to distance themselves from such practices and yet live a decent life. But who will bell the cat? 

Corruption in whatever form and at whatsoever level is a blight or plague to the society and the same has to be rooted out from the psyche of all. Finally, all the dealings involving a million rupees and above, will have to be cleared by a corruption monitoring cell in all the departments/ entities, assuming a scope for corruption. A loyal citizen of reputed credentials should be co-opted for this. Let our society treat the corrupt as weeds and pests to be exiled lock, stock and barrel.

At the end of the day, it is ridiculous to hear the pots calling the kettles black in the elections speeches.