Posted By Meenu Chopra On Mar 9, 2010

Corruption is defined in the dictionary as a dishonest conduct by those in power. But it takes two to tango and those in power could not be corrupt if that not in power were not part of the game. In our times corruption has become a way of life, something that is so ingrained in us that we do have stopped questioning its inherent value
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Posted By Meenu Chopra On Mar 9, 2010

 

 

 

 

ESSAY ON CORRUPTION

By Anouradha Bakshi 

Corruption is defined in the dictionary as a dishonest conduct by those in power. But it takes two to tango and those in power could not be corrupt if that not in power were not part of the game. In our times corruption has become a way of life, something that is so ingrained in us that we do have stopped questioning its inherent value It is part of our belief system, the one we inherit from our elders or from watching the world around us in our quest of things that work and corruption seems to do just that. It gets us what we seek.

 There are different shades and hues of corruption but the bottom line remains the same: you can pay and get what does not come your way easily. It is not the prerogative of the rich and powerful, corruption has permeated the lowest strata of society. The child in the slum watches his father pay a bribe to the beat police officer in order to build a small extension to his hovel; the same child listens to the evening family conversations about how to get the whopping 10K rupees needed to pay the middle man for the coveted job. The list is endless. In another part of the city a rich kid shares in his parents' celebration as they toast the latest contract obtained after paying a huge bribe to a the local politician. And as these kids watch their parents a system of belief is set in place. 

There is another kind of corruption, the one you and I may resort to when the honourable way becomes too difficult or harrowing. Those are times when I guess corruption becomes the lesser of two evils. Corruption seems to be what works. And with time the greed and blatancy of those who seek bribes has taken proportions too huge to fight. 

Then how does one fight corruption. The obvious answer would be to say by stopping giving and yet we all know that those who try to live by that rule pay a big price. It is a catch 22 situation: I pay a bribe to get a job then I take bribes to make up for the loss. What is needed is a way that would remove corruption from our list of beliefs. And that is only possible if one can propose an alternative way that works. One approach would be to teach the ills of corruption to children at a young age, in the hope that they would not resort to it when they grow. But sadly the examples that one would need to place in front of them as alternatives as few and rare. Another approach would be to pledge not to give a bribe and I guess many of us have done that and many have managed to stand by their pledge. 

Changing a system of belief is not easy, and yet with corruption that is just what needs to be done. We must all strive towards finding a way to show that there exists an alternative way that works. We need to build a new system of beliefs which would yield the same results and place it as an alternative. Simply decrying corruption is not enough; it has to be uprooted out of our way of life.

 Anouradha Goburdhun Bakshi is a Baccalaureate from the University of Grenoble. She founded the Sri Ram Goburdhun Charitable Trust in 1998 and began its activities in the year 2000 in the slums of Giri Nagar, South Delhi to uplift the urban slum communities. Her Project WHY, which started with spoken English classes to just 40 slum kids, today, reaches out more than 800 children and has transformed the lives of many. The alumni of her project, who are now able to sustain a better living, are the testimony of her conviction, contribution and care to the society.