Article -67 Week 27 Rationalising Corrupt Practices:

Article -67  Week 27

Rationalising Corrupt Practices:

"But man is so addicted to systems and to abstract conclusions that he is prepared deliberately to distort the truth, to close his eyes and ears, but justify his logic at all cost. "  — Fyodor Dostoyevsky

We live in an interesting time of paradigm shifts. Especially so in our shipping industry in India,  where we have learnt to live with and consume dirt for so long that we no more care to pay attention, even when it hurts. Half a century of maladministration. Getting the basic things done for the common man had to be through bribes, corruption, nepotism, or stealing if all else failed. When the common man was desperate and angry, throw them some populist soups to invade his unsuspecting subconscious mind space with a 'brand of the political oligarchy'. 

When the common man is aware enough to raise questions, show them the winding corridors of red-tape or the complex and almost esoteric volumes of legislations. Amazingly, this Indian man knows how to scramble through this maze of red-tapes - be it RTI, an almost moribund judiciary system, or screaming media to lay his hands on the perpetrators to shake from their comfort zones. Now the government almost shouts back at the common man with reprimands of constitutional breach for daring to ask. 

We have been on the receiving end for far too long. Customs, Service Tax, Income Tax, Sales Tax, and many such departments have traditionally snuggled up with the rogue violators of the rules while the honest guy has been treated like a vermin in their corridors. 

A few days back, I happened to be in one of these corridors. I was kept waiting for hours, because the Babu was busy. But I could see the through the glass partition. The Babu was sitting with a known local goon cum contractor. I could see the chemistry with those irrepressible smiles and gestures between them - just like long lost brothers. And those occasional smirks on his faces, when he saw me staring straight through, spoke of his blind hatred to the common man. What a shame! I know all officers and Babus are not like that. Most of them are friendly ordinary folks like us. But the undercurrent of this rotten culture is a clear manifest in the involuntary body languages and those notorious noting on the files.

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Brgds

Capt Rath