“At the cash counter of civil hospital in the city of Lucknow, there was a spat going on. A young boy, (roughly around 16-17yrs old, clad in untidy clothes, unshaved and with wet eyes) was having a heated debate with the counter man, who on the opposite side of the window, was throwing typical hot-words.
Nobody around were looking interested in the debate, but were firmly enjoying the drama with loads of enthusiasm. I was moving towards parking after meeting my relative who was admitted over there, but looks of the boy compelled me to get into the spat.
I went to the counter & asked the boy ,”what happened, bhai”?
He glanced & tried to figure out whether I am related to the hospital or not, when he failed to assess, he replied, “I need the final bills to get cleared but the counter man says to come after 3 pm”.
I looked at my watch, it was 11:45 am, as is apparent, Govt. employees work only post lunch, in the similar fashion, a time of 3:30pm was wisely advised. Then I suggested young boy, “ come after lunch, probably around 3 pm or so, by the time have your lunch & get your things ready as you are here for final billing which means your loved one is to get discharged”.
He fell in tears, said, “my father can’t be discharged, I have to take him from MORTUARY”.
I was stunned, speechless……………..a silence was there for few moments…………but I could hear his howling!!
I looked at the man at the counter, nonchalant, indifferent & shameless expression was there over his face.
He threw words over my face,” hey, kya baat hai, why are u staring at me”? I filled with anger, n said abruptly, just looking at your shameless face, don’t you know about all this?
He replied in plain, ”nothing new! I face such things every day, nothing unusual for me”.
I requested him to put across the bills, if the boy has cleared all the dues, what is the problem?
He said, “look man! There are 2 things, one: If I make it for him, everybody would jump in here to get the work done. And second : in the morning time, I don’t do extra time work, my time starts at 3pm only, so better be here after 3:00pm”.
What a pity, a boy who has lost his father, has to wait for permission to get the body of his father………
Then finally, as a true Indian, I opened my wallet, & asked, the counter man to get things done right away, he enthusiastically grazed through my wallet, contents inside & importantly few Rs.500 notes.
A voice came from the counter,”Sir, give me two mins, everything is ready, I will run to the manager & get the stamp & signature”.
He came as early as hardly one mins, n handed papers across the counter, & demanded 2 notes. I hurriedly handed that over to him & gave the papers to the boy. Hugged the boy, n said some words in his ears…………
& started, towards the car parking…….
When I reached the car, I found my driver staring at me, I asked, “what”? He asked, “Sahib, what you said in his ears”?
“Son,
this incidence will make you stronger,
now, you are the master of your destiny,
GO GET YOUR DREAMS that your father would have seen for you”, These were my words, I replied.
********************************************************************************
Next morning, I was trying to meditate, but the young boys face was coming again & again to my mind.
Why? Am I worried about the one grand that I invested? No, not at all.
Am I worried about the boys’ future? Certainly, no a big issue for me.
Then what????? I purchased a Death Certificate @ Rs.1000/- what the f***!!!!
Corruption starts where an Indian is born, right from getting the BIRTH CERTIFICATE , till the DEATH CERTIFICATE, somebody is always there across the counter to ask for bribe, chai-paani, hukka-paani etc.
Whatever the name, meaning is same, we are corrupt!!!!
As I am avid reader of great epics of like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Geeta etc, I tried to find the solution for my dilemma ,”what should be my role, what should be my stand”?
I got reply from the Mahabharata : “when Draupadi was insulted in the court of seniors as a result of the game of gambling, she continuously asked for help & asked about the” DHARMA of the Ruler” from the courtiers which included Bhishma, Kripacharya, Dronacharya, Vidur etc but nobody could because they were bound with the rules which never allowed to go against the king.
In the later part, when completely, discouraged from the silence in the court, he stated about the immorality of the silence:
“ Whenever a crime occurs, half the punishment should go to the criminal, from the rest half, one fourth must go to the his ally and the rest one-fourth should go to the people who were silent, when the crime was taking place”
Interesting explanation indeed & when I weighed myself over the balance of morality, I found me on the left side of the line, why? Because I bribed the counter man & came back home instead of lodging a complaint against him to the right authority.
But what about the people who were silent?(for the readers) Do you have any answer????
Certainly, this silence will cause a greater damage to ourselves and to the nation as a whole.
So I promise myself, that I will not bow down to pressure of the moment & will try to break the silence from this day onwards…………………………………………………………………………………………………Be moral.
Wish you a very happy new year!!!!
Regards
Vinod tripathi
Nobody around were looking interested in the debate, but were firmly enjoying the drama with loads of enthusiasm. I was moving towards parking after meeting my relative who was admitted over there, but looks of the boy compelled me to get into the spat.
I went to the counter & asked the boy ,”what happened, bhai”?
He glanced & tried to figure out whether I am related to the hospital or not, when he failed to assess, he replied, “I need the final bills to get cleared but the counter man says to come after 3 pm”.
I looked at my watch, it was 11:45 am, as is apparent, Govt. employees work only post lunch, in the similar fashion, a time of 3:30pm was wisely advised. Then I suggested young boy, “ come after lunch, probably around 3 pm or so, by the time have your lunch & get your things ready as you are here for final billing which means your loved one is to get discharged”.
He fell in tears, said, “my father can’t be discharged, I have to take him from MORTUARY”.
I was stunned, speechless……………..a silence was there for few moments…………but I could hear his howling!!
I looked at the man at the counter, nonchalant, indifferent & shameless expression was there over his face.
He threw words over my face,” hey, kya baat hai, why are u staring at me”? I filled with anger, n said abruptly, just looking at your shameless face, don’t you know about all this?
He replied in plain, ”nothing new! I face such things every day, nothing unusual for me”.
I requested him to put across the bills, if the boy has cleared all the dues, what is the problem?
He said, “look man! There are 2 things, one: If I make it for him, everybody would jump in here to get the work done. And second : in the morning time, I don’t do extra time work, my time starts at 3pm only, so better be here after 3:00pm”.
What a pity, a boy who has lost his father, has to wait for permission to get the body of his father………
Then finally, as a true Indian, I opened my wallet, & asked, the counter man to get things done right away, he enthusiastically grazed through my wallet, contents inside & importantly few Rs.500 notes.
A voice came from the counter,”Sir, give me two mins, everything is ready, I will run to the manager & get the stamp & signature”.
He came as early as hardly one mins, n handed papers across the counter, & demanded 2 notes. I hurriedly handed that over to him & gave the papers to the boy. Hugged the boy, n said some words in his ears…………
& started, towards the car parking…….
When I reached the car, I found my driver staring at me, I asked, “what”? He asked, “Sahib, what you said in his ears”?
“Son,
this incidence will make you stronger,
now, you are the master of your destiny,
GO GET YOUR DREAMS that your father would have seen for you”, These were my words, I replied.
********************************************************************************
Next morning, I was trying to meditate, but the young boys face was coming again & again to my mind.
Why? Am I worried about the one grand that I invested? No, not at all.
Am I worried about the boys’ future? Certainly, no a big issue for me.
Then what????? I purchased a Death Certificate @ Rs.1000/- what the f***!!!!
Corruption starts where an Indian is born, right from getting the BIRTH CERTIFICATE , till the DEATH CERTIFICATE, somebody is always there across the counter to ask for bribe, chai-paani, hukka-paani etc.
Whatever the name, meaning is same, we are corrupt!!!!
As I am avid reader of great epics of like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Geeta etc, I tried to find the solution for my dilemma ,”what should be my role, what should be my stand”?
I got reply from the Mahabharata : “when Draupadi was insulted in the court of seniors as a result of the game of gambling, she continuously asked for help & asked about the” DHARMA of the Ruler” from the courtiers which included Bhishma, Kripacharya, Dronacharya, Vidur etc but nobody could because they were bound with the rules which never allowed to go against the king.
In the later part, when completely, discouraged from the silence in the court, he stated about the immorality of the silence:
“ Whenever a crime occurs, half the punishment should go to the criminal, from the rest half, one fourth must go to the his ally and the rest one-fourth should go to the people who were silent, when the crime was taking place”
Interesting explanation indeed & when I weighed myself over the balance of morality, I found me on the left side of the line, why? Because I bribed the counter man & came back home instead of lodging a complaint against him to the right authority.
But what about the people who were silent?(for the readers) Do you have any answer????
Certainly, this silence will cause a greater damage to ourselves and to the nation as a whole.
So I promise myself, that I will not bow down to pressure of the moment & will try to break the silence from this day onwards…………………………………………………………………………………………………Be moral.
Wish you a very happy new year!!!!
Regards
Vinod tripathi
nice work ..am proud
ReplyDeletethanx sachu!!!
ReplyDeletebut m not proud with the entire episode what i penned down here. I still feel the pain of corruption!!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat I feel is that u did ur part, all wat ws needed to b done dat tym 4 dat guy ...
ReplyDeleteIn this case ur helping the guy takes u to right side, equally ur bribing the person takes u to the left side of the line....so balanced ,i suppose- :)