Though I have read and heard a lot about corruption, it has never actually hit me this hard, as it has now. In two separate incidents, I witnessed corruption in full swing.
In the first incident, a government official was caught red-handed by us (poor 'Common Man'). Let me narrate my experiences.
Narration 1 - I have been posted in a project in Bangalore, and have been here for the last 2 months. Being closer to Chennai, I travel home every weekend. Come Friday, and my colleagues and I would board the 'Red Bus' from
Infy campus to
Hosur bus terminus. We would book our seats in the 9 pm
SETC bus (managed by the
Tamilnadu Government), and go to the ticket counter to book the return tickets. This is where 'our man' comes into the picture. Equipped with a computer system, he exudes power over the humble mortals who dare to bother him for tickets. Approach him for a ticket, and he will throw up his hands in the air and declare "No tickets pa". This declaration is made without even glancing at the database.
Ok. Then we stand there and request him to check the system, and the overlord would brush away our requests with an exasperated look. We stand there for some more time and he would 'pity' us and take one last look at the system. And Lo! Tickets have suddenly become available. He gladly books the tickets for us. But, for this immense favour, we have to fill his pocket with a few extra rupees. One time, the 'mighty seer' just had to look at me once before declaring that there are no tickets available. A little time later, my male colleague went and asked while I watched the scene hidden behind the wooden windows. He managed to get two tickets with an extra fee of Rs. 50.
Narration 2 - Not willing to subscribe to the bribery practised by the
Hosur staff, I refused to book the return tickets at
Hosur the next time we travelled. I decided to get them booked at Chennai (these officials, luckily, did not take bribes). Unfortunately, no tickets were not available, and I had to venture out looking for private travels. I did manage to get to a '
Jahan Travels' whose gentle and sweet employee charged us Rs. 450 for a ticket, but billed us Rs. 400 for a ticket (in a non-AC bus, that too). The bribe at
Hosur would have worked out to be cheaper!
So, what did I do to prevent corruption? I reported to the SETC authorities, and even submitted a complaint letter. As usual, its a forgotten case.
Sigh !! .. Is there no end to this?
