Babudom@IITKGP

(A little something about this blog. I started writing this about an hour back. Wrote it for about 20 minutes and at the end of it all when I pressed 'Publish post', the blog didn't publish and the entire thing was lost. Well, that was one of the most irritating thing to have happened to me in months. So, after getting jeered at and made fun of by my wingies and friends, I decided to write it again. Man, I HAVE tempo. :) Anyways, if you are reading this its because I have copied this entire text first into a notepad as a backup, and have been very lucky that the blogger site worked. So, I hope all ye readers will please sympathise with my efforts and chip in with your comments. The blog could have been alternatively titled : 'The pains of getting a blog posted'.. So long, have fun & happy reading)

The following is the conversation I had today at the Academic Office (Undergraduate Section) of the insti.

(Background: I receive an annual schlarship of Rs. 14,400 for my Std. 12 histrionics, from the Maharashtra State Government. I had gone to the office to claim my scholarship cheque. The person who manages all these matters is a certain officer or clerk called Mr. Mukherjee, I ain't sure of his name.)

Me: Good Morning, Sir. I receive an ... (blah blah blah..) Has my scholaship money for the session 2003-04 arrived?
Mr. Mukherjee: Hmm.. Aa gaya hai shayad. Woh file dena.. (with a wide grin)
(Takes the file that I pass on to him.) Haan, aa gaya hai.
Me: Good. When can I get the cheque?
Mr. Mukherjee: Hmm.. Abhi toh cheque yahaan se doosre sections mein jaayega. It will have to be validated and countersigned. Time lag jaayega.
Me: Sir, jaldi nahi ho sakta?
Mr. Mukherjee: Haan, ho toh sakta hai. Par kyaa hai naa, woh peon logon ko bolna padega, so that they can get your cheque passed from the various sections. And iss kaam ke liye unhe thodi baksheesh (a token amount of money) toh deni padegi.
(The shocked) Me: What? Yeh sab karne ke liye kab aana padega. (I said this pretty rudely, visibly irked. That time, I was already pissed off. Coz next I had to go and attend the Computer Software class where Prof. Pawan Kumar was to teach some shit programs. (But hey, Pawan Kumar IS a very nice and sincere teacher. Here, its me, the student, who is at fault. Man, I simply can't stand that class :( )
(The apprehensive) Mr. Mukherjee: Nahi Nahi, chalta hai. Tum one week baad aao, I will see to it that you get the cheque by next week.
Me: Thank You, Sir.

Well, should say, I WAS shocked. I didn't expect to bribe someone to get my own money. Maybe I was not in the correct state of mind that time. I had two options: One, I could have walked off. Waited & waited & waited & watched and finally in a week or so, I would have got my money. As it is I am not in any dire need of the money as of now. The other option would have been paying up a baksheesh of 50 bucks and would have got the cheque the next day. All hassles taken care of by the peons. Had I really needed the money urgently I wouldn't have hesitated to go for the second option.

But would that step have been morally justified? Ethics, I say, are very flexible. One of the most easily distortable (I do hope such a word exists. If not, I am proud to have coined a new word. Jokes apart, I suppose the reader has got the point) things around. Sitting around on a coffee table with colleagues, in a debate or a discussion, we go at lengths crying foul about the faults & fallacies in the system, the declining moral standards, the prevailing corruption and so on. But in practical situations, seldom does any one of us stand against such vice. I, for one, have innumerable times bribed the Traffic Officer whenever I have been caught. Paying a bribe of 50 bucks looks more prospective than paying a hefty fine of Rs. 300. I have wronged. I agree.

Anyways, in the mean time, here I am, still waiting for my money......