It was a bright and sunny day. Little did I expect it to be an unlucky one for me.
I went to schoolearly because I was on class duty. I stepped into the classroom and was surprised to find it spick and span. I was pleased that I did not have to clean the classroom and went off cheerfully for the flag-rising ceremony. When I returned to my classroom later on, my teacherscolded me for not cleaning the classroom. It was then that I realized I had gone into the wrong classroom earlier on. My teacher put me on duty again the next day as punishment.
Just then, the school dental nurse walked into the classroom. To my dismay, I was called up for a dental check-up.
The dentist found a badly decayed tooth and pulled it out mercilessly. I was close to tears. The dentist advised me to take porridge during recess. However, I ended up scalding my tongue because I ate the hot porridge in a hurry.
After school, I missed the bus and reached home later than usual. In the kitchen, I found a note from my mother saying that she had brought my sister to a funfair. They had left without me after much waiting. Whathard luck! I would not want to live through another such day!
One day I told my mother to buy some cellophane paper because our class teacher has wanted it. My mother said "We are going to your uncle's house I will buy it at the evening. I enjoyed myself at my uncle's house . But when we came back home my mother went out to buy the paper. I was alone in the house. It was thundering and raining heavily. I was very scared. I was sitting in front at the window when suddenly the light went off. I was scared "absolute trouble" I said to myself. I was sweating because the fan went off . Suddenly something touched me. It came with the wind. When I scarily looked behind I heard sounds in the attic. I was scared out of my wits. Then I saw a note on the window sill. "I am in the attic, as I have come early. Dad." Now I laughed at myself. When the lights came and my mother too some time later I was glad. I knew that the "Rhomb Rhomb" sound was the hammering sound that my father made in the attic.
Corruption is today a world-wide phenomenon. In our own country some people in high positions lave been charged for it.
A corrupt person is termed immoral, dishonest and unscrupulous in his dealings. His disregard for honesty, righteousness and truth results in his alienation from society. He is treated with contempt. But as erosion of values leads to decadence, remedies for the social malaise remain elusive, and so no amount of contempt can eradicate corruption which is a symptom of decadence.
Corruption is the most virulent when crises everywhere threaten the very existence of the society and the faith in life is shaken. It has always been there like tie leech, but when the system grows weaker and the boat flounders, it gets bolder and drains its victims of the last drops of their blood.
The older the system the weaker it grows and fails to solve the riddles of life that grows more complex every day. So men lose faith in it and let it drift down. At this point corruption takes over and plunges the entire society. After Second World War the old system with all its values was left in a shambles. The crippling effects of the war, the recession and depression, and uncertainties in a faithless world of maimed and moribund encouraged cynicism in a section of the population.
This section included the government officials dealing in essential commodities. They found the post-war conditions ideal for fishing in troubled waters and jetting richer. They formed a sort of vicious circle in which moral values and honest intentions no longer held valid. The flourishing black market in essential commodities, adulteration of even baby- food, bribery, fraud and economic, political and administrative manipulations with an eye on earning profits has brought untold misery to the people.
One would say the corruption in India has an ancient lineage; it is sanctified by tradition. The author of the Arthasastra made some remarks on government officials of his time which are relevant even today: "Just as it is impossible not to taste the honey or the poison that finds itself at the tip of the tongue, so it is impossible for a government servant not to eat up at least a bit of the king's revenue. These in the postwar world became only bolder while eating up government money and accepting bribes.
Today, when India is free, these officials representing all government departments are very close to the most corrupt businessmen who are too unscrupulous to let any opportunity of amassing profits slip. This collusion broadens the base of the vicious circle and corruption spreads 'like wild fire to engulf the entire society. The political and social guardians depend only too much on the richer communities and they look indulgently on while these communities hold the entire society and the government to ransom.
Corruption starts at the top and percolates down to the whole society. Such corruption cannot be confined to the towns alone. It is as widespread in the villages where the dishonest officials and the traders carry the germs of the disease. The tyranny of confusion and price rules the land and the people are helpless victims of corruption everywhere.
