Monday, May 23, 2011

The big ugly "gets-work-done" guy

Right now, i sit in one of the most corrupt offices in the city . Which city? every single one of them in India .

Let me tell you 1 simple fact about how stupid i am . I lost my wallet , A couple of months ago . With it went woooosh my:

1. Pan Card
2. License
3. Landmark fellowship card .. You may ask why this is so important ? well because the card's number was 000001 :)
4. 2k
5. memories

Now , i need a license , i wish to drive a car , a swift or an i10 , but that isn't important . The base point - I need a license .

Dad made a couple of calls .

the R T O , the Regional Transport Office.

People around me , all waiting , all sitting on the slab that i am sitting on . Like one of my friends quoted , there is no distinction between us people sitting on the slab . The real distinction is not physical . The real distinction is more of how we came to sit on this same slab .

I came, and i will accept, through what they call a 'broker'. Which is just a glorified way of calling a peon . A person who can get things done .

Do i feel guilty ? Yes , as hell . Why ? Because i'm just another pawn in this corrupt society, feeding the demon that is corruption . A big , black thing with no physical form , much like goop or a swampy creature with big red eyes of temptation is how i picture this Corruption .

Its not a concept anymore . Its something . A 'thing' that has an identity . A thing that we feed . A thing that we breed .

update: 
I just went into an office . This is the office of the P.A to the RTO, (RTO meaning the Regional Transport Officer) and lied to him . Told him that i can possibly only get 1 day(s) of leave from my office and asked him if he could sign the re-issue papers . He looked at me , he looked at the 'broker' and slyly said that he couldn't do it and that we had to wait for the RTO as such . He continued on and told me to go , and sent the broker soon after . I wonder .

While all of us are stuck waiting in never ending lines , these people - the 'brokers' dont have such a line , they have "another" line . I wonder .

There are a lot of things i wonder about , and one such thing ISN'T corruption . Because there really isn't anything to wonder about, is there?:
You pay , they give . You pay more , they give sooner . You pay even more , you dont even need it . C'est la vie . 
Considering the way things are moving here, there is one little proverb that i have always admired that needs an addition .
Blood is thicker than water ?
Money is thicker than blood . 
Update: 
OK , things are done now . Heres what happened:

After i met the PA , i waited for some more time and then went and met the RTO dude himself, directly . Lied to him that i had only 1 day(s) leave and then he lectured me about how HE had to wait 10 days in line to get admission into a school for his son . But hell! I guess he had been successful in that adventure . He signed the papers and the major hurdle was crossed . The rest was supposed to be , as our thalaivar, Mr. Rajini Sir would say: "jujubi"

Following that, I came out and waited in line to get my picture taken . Then started the ordeal . I sat to be photographed 3 times and kept getting sent back because:
It was a duplication request and not a fresh license or a renewal and hence i had to get some more signatures
There was no bill attached for the amount paid , i had to come over and get the bill
The name on the bill was Mukesh and lets face it , i am neither the great singer or a "really really" fat dude. 
So with all these things taken care of , i approached the chair like it was a throne that i had to earn my place on and asked the dude before sitting . "Anna, should i sit or do i need to run around some more?" . He laughed and said "Thambi , no payan (pain) no gayan (gain)" . That gave me the laugh i needed for the picture .

Ok, yes i'm English-ist . Its a beautiful language and needs to be resspected .

Anyway, back to the topic. So after all these miniscule things , i came out of the Picture room (as they all call it) triumphant . My DL will be delivered at most by tomorrow .
P = 1 .
So i guess what i'm trying to say is this:
Do you know the PM? I know someone better .
Do you stand in line from 5 in the morning ? I know someone better .
Do you skip lunch and breakfast because you need to get your passport renewed ? I know someone better . 
This is the same case with all of us . Poor souls who dont know the 'someone better' will suffer because we KNOW the 'someone better' or better put , because we can AFFORD the 'someone better'

--

People will believe that change in this kind of a place is not possible . They will go forth to believe that this is our life .

These kinds of things are FOOD to that goopy swampy creature. I know that a creature that is so big cannot be easily conqured . But lets take small steps , tiny ones .

Let start by poking it , then lets take the bigger weapons . Burn it and hopefully slay it .

Its not something that we can do within a day . Not something that can be done in a year or even in 10 years .

But lets at least start doing something about it so that maybe , just maybe our grand grand grand grand kids can live a life where truly "No pain, No gain"

--

You may ask me 1 simple question , why all talk when you are giving food to that creature ?

I tell you from the bottom of my heart today , i will give my share of pokes to this creature . I shall try to not give these peons money and get my things done .

Because there is nothing in this world that matches hardwork .

--

I might have won this war . But things will come back .

What goes around , comes around .
What has a beginning , must end .
what is a corrupt country , can cease to be one .

--

I'm back home , and i'm hungry as fuck . I need my food .

"maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Signing off .

12 comments:

  1. here's the guy Anna Hazare was searching for!!

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  2. Just another day in our country. very well elaborated. hi 5 bro :)

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  3. Like it :)

    Corruption can only prosper with a people's ignore-ance.
    ~George Marek


    -DP

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  4. First of all. I read the blog
    Second corruption needs to be nipped in the bud and also its head cutoff at the same time.
    All of us have to do our best to remove this "thing ".
    One way would be the "Jan lokpal bill " . Help each other to clean our India.

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  5. Well, my your spirit flow into all of us and may we beat that BIG BLACK CREATURE!

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  6. are the eyes of that creature #ff0000 or #ee0000??
    :P

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  7. Well written bro :) Yeah Money n Power can create shortcuts, but hard work sits in a corner. We should stop it from the grass root level !

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  8. They are #ba1a1a :D

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  9. Hey its so true you know...I'm trying to get my police verification done without bribing and its already like 2 weeks gone...All my friends got it done in 4 or 5 days... Not just this a lot of other stuff, I went for my passport, they expected bribe..(guess since I was a girl, they were shy to ask).. But the guy who comes home for verification makes sure he takes a bribe of a minimum of Rs.500..I mean wtf!!
    This is not it! I go for LLR, the guy asks for a bribe and write the test for you...damn then when are we ever going to learn traffic rules??
    I go to the inspector to get some papers signed in Noida.. He asks for a bribe on face! Pay it and u get it..!
    But so far haven't paid much of a bribe though the issues took me more than it would have otherwise! Its really sad to live in a democratic country..for the people, by the people. I wonder where has this gone!!

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  10. Hope you get your lost stuff soon... :) All the best man!!! F... with these corrupt a..h...s... :P

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  11. waiting for a post that would talk about you share of "poke" . :)

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so, whaddu you want to say ?