All you people who criticize us for paying bribe, have you ever really stopped to think why would one want to bribe instead of sticking to his right? It’s easy to comment that the system is corrupt because people easily agree to pay money instead of going about the business in the proper manner, but have you ever considered the hypothesis that perhaps people are forced to bribe because the damned system is corrupt? Let me try to put my opinions in a very neutral tone and you people can decide.
I am staying in Bangalore. I have a bike, a license and all the documents and ID’s. It was 1 am. Just having watched the last show of Thor, we decided to go to the airport to have a cup of coffee. Please don’t ask why would we want to drive 50 km for a cup of coffee – it’s my wish and discussing that here would be deviating from the main point. At the entrance of the road which branches off towards the airport we were stopped by a police and told that airport is out-of-bounds for people on bike. Fine! We decided to return. However, after travelling some more time, we were all tired and wanted to just stop by the side and stretch our legs. It is now that a police jeep pulls over and the officer demands our license and bike documents. We produce all the documents. But now instead of letting us go, he tells his subordinate to get our bikes towed to the nearest police station. WTH! Apparently, in the city of Bangalore, this is a suspicious activity. They need to verify if we are terrorists or not. The officer told us that the bikes will be locked up in the police station, that a case shall be opened against us and that we will have to appear in a court. It’s a simple case and most probably you’ll be cleared – he says. But the bike will have to stay and it’ll take a week to have the case resolved he adds.
I admit I am afraid of police. I do not think they are my friends. They are certainly not the people I trust to keep me safe. We tried to reason with the officer. We claimed the airport police to be an alibi of our intentions. But no! He was hell-bent on confiscating our bikes. It was 2 in the night now. What were we to do? Yes, we asked the officer if he could settle all this for some money. He smiled and demanded Rs. 2000. After some negotiations we settled for an amount of Rs. 1000.
Yes I paid a bribe. Am I ashamed? No. And if you had asked people of Bangalore what they would have done, they would reply the same. It’s not a crime if we do not want to be harassed by the police. I have a job and I cannot spare time to go to police station and get my bike back. I certainly do not have the patience to put up with all the nonsense they would throw at me. My life is no Bollywood movie and I am definitely not Sunny Deol who can fight against the corrupt administration and come out victorious.
I was reading few other stories. A guy wanted to open his restaurant. He files an application for TIN number. The official tells him that if he were to use an agent things would get done sooner. He decides against the advice. A couple of months pass by and the application is still not processed. He visits an agent this time around. The agent demands him to pay Rs 7000 more as he would need to bribe a lot of officials. A couple of weeks later the work is done! Paying the bribe was the right business decision. It put him back by a few thousands but at least got him the license. He can make up for the loss in some time. But if he have had to wait another couple of months for the application to go through, he would have lost much more money.
A friend of mine told me his story. It was 11 in the night and he was coming back from the office on his Bajaj Platina – a 125 cc bike. A policeman stops him and demands the documents. After the documents were produced the policeman tells him that he’ll need to confiscate the bike for dangerous driving! My friend never drives above 50. He insisted that he was not over speeding, to which the policeman simply answered – “Look, I’ll simply record that you were speeding. You can choose to come to the police station tomorrow and have your bike back or cough up 100″.
So if you people think that I was wrong, write down your stories in the comments and I shall respect you more. But without having fought against injustice please refrain from advising others. Things are easier said than done.
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