- I Paid A Bribe
- 14 years ago
- 327 views
Threatened with 'dire consequences'
- Police
- Traffic Violations
- Paid INR 200
I was driving home in my car after collecting souvenirs for our clients. There were 15 cardboard boxes, the size that would hold a dinner plate, with a marble plate inside each. I didn't want to put them at risk in the trunk/boot, so I kept them on the backseat.
At a traffic intersection in New Delhi, a police officer overtook me on a bike and flagged me down. He was drunk, while in uniform. After going through all my papers (which were in order), he kept them in his pocket, and said (in Hindi) - "You're breaking the law by carrying 'luggage' on your backseat. It's not allowed and you have to pay a fine." I said- "Okay, how much is the fine, and will I get a receipt?" He started calling me names and said he'll have me shot in an encounter, now that he can track me through all the documents he'd horded in his pocket. Well, I pretty much felt like shooting him at that point!
But anyway, I didn't want any trouble so I paid up and left, with my documents.
So well, I surrendered. I was afraid. I hate to admit it, but that's the truth. I hadn't paid a single bribe till then, and I hopefully won't, ever again. But that one-off incident ********** me off and I deplore every single man-in-uniform that I see. You aim not to target individuals? Right, because every one of them, and us, is tainted. It's ingrained. Corruption comes naturally to us. So you probably have to target processes, as a whole- target it at a fundamental level.
But you know what? You'd still fail at effecting change.