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Friday, December 18, 2009

Overtly corrupt

India is corrupt, every government office in India is, blah blah… How much of this have we heard? Same with me. I ve heard a lot of this. Real lots, to the point that I’m bored of it and it ‘s nothing more than one of the most common (and boring) essay topics. Never thought this will be a post on my blog, until recently…. when I saw it, right there, so openly.

It was when I got my license. Oh yeah, I got my license-for 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers as well . How cool is that? J

(Yeah.Yeah, no more bullshitting, my point is right here!)

I was there at the RTO office at ten like my driving school instructor asked me to (I gotta admit, I learnt privately. And my driving school id and report was all fake). I practised a bit, carefully driving my way through the very curvy ‘S’ shaped path. The ‘8’ for my scooty was facile. Pleased with myself, while waiting for the inspector to turn up, I delved into my pocket for my mp3 player, but it wasn’t there. I scurried to the car hoping to find it. For the second time in one minute, I emptied my pockets, this time for the car keys, and to my horror, it wasn’t there either. I knew where it was, the ignition.I’ve never felt that dumb and helpless in all my life. And as if to illustrate the most rotten luck ever, the inspector chose the same minute to enter the office. I had no idea what I was going to do. If not dad’s Santro, I had to drive a jeep like dirty thing parked in the corner there. The thought of it made me nervous. The driving school instructor said I could try the curvy ‘S’ on the jeep looking thing if I wanted to. I climbed into the jeep and there was some old guy who was almost barking at me. I was struggling to make sense out of the barking. And he was sitting right next to me all the way through the ‘S’. I was supposed to carry out all that he asked me to and nothing more. Infuriated, I climbed out of the car careful not to touch the grease and black crap all over the car.

Soon I was called for the scooty pep test, I was done in ten seconds (The inspector didn’t look at me for even 2 seconds). I was watching the others. There was this guy who made his was through the ‘8’ with one leg on the ground, and I was bewildered when he got through too. Everyone did! The test was just for the procedure’s sake. Following this was my car driving test and shockingly the old guy was right there instructing me even this time. The inspector didn’t bother one bit. I passed. (I got my license that night.)

On the way back I was discussing this with our driver, who made it clear that passing the test without a driving school’s help is highly improbable. Half of the cash paid to the driving school fills the inspector’s pockets. And all the inspector has to do is nod and sign the papers. And done! Everyone profits. The inspector obviously does. A guy who sucks at driving passes the test. The driving school gets more popular. Noone complains!

To me the most appalling thing was how openly it was done. There was nothing clandestine about it. Little does anyone think of the safety apects. Who knows, a more fair and just test might mitigate accidents to a substantial extent. Only when this is given some thought it’s magnitude and hence its consequences can be realized. And I don’t see any change happening in this system, as it is one that keeps everyone happy.