I was going one of my favorite blogs when I came across this post. I am not much surprised about this... Tradition comes from practicing something again and again. Bribing police is one of the things which people do repeatedly. You bribe a policeman, your vehicle is left untouched. If you don't pay him any money, he's goin to send either a summons to your house based on your vehicle # or sieze your vehicle on the spot, create a scene and then, fine you many times more than the amount he has asked for. One thing here, you might be happy with the receipt that you got for the amount. You might feel that the money would go to the Govt. Most of the time, it does not happen so.
Another thing to be noted here is that the fear that exists in the minds of people make them pay up. A policeman is with the law and he is able to point out any loopholes in your work. They come as a team and if you argue, you end up losing, either money or reputation or some other very valuable thing.
It happened to me some years ago. I was in my school and was riding my bicycle on our street. We were living in Mysore and the street was pretty small. Occasionally, I was riding slowly. All of a sudden, a neighbors kid runs out to the street from her house and comes and rams into my cycle. It is her mistake, her parents and a few other neighbors have seen that. One of her uncles was a policeman and when he came to enquire, none of the neighbors spoke up. Her parents wanted to use this as an opportunity and gain money. The policeman came home, spoke to my parents, threatened me with dire consequences. My Dad took everything with a cool head, then, went out somewhere. When he came back, the policeman saluted him. Whatever happened between them is a mystery even today... which is never going to be solved. Dad is dead now. I don't remember the policeman's name.
Later, I got to know that this policeman (though he was an uncle of the kid who rammed into my cycle) was bribed by all our neighbors not to trouble them. Eventhough the neighbors were no way related to whatever happened that day, it is their fear of policemen which made them shell out money.
Why do people fear police?? One reason is that this fear is brought about by their parents when they were very young... You might see it even to this day. When a child cries too much or when a child does not pay heed to its parents words, the first thing that the parent says is that they are going to take the child to a police station. My neice was once told the same by my sister. I went to my neice, took her to a police station in Bangalore, made her interact with a few policemen and now, her fear is gone.
The other reason is that these people might have something to hide and if a policeman comes, they fear that he might get to know whatever they are hiding. So, they fear the policemen, bribe them and send them away.
One more reason is that policemen themselves are asking for the bribes. When a policeman asks for something, the easiest thing to do is to give him that thing and send him away. Else, the policemen threaten these guillible people and in a few cases (esp. in rural areas), they take a member of the family to the station. What is at stake is the reputation of this family, the time this family has to spend shuttling between the station and their daily places of work. So, to avoid all this, they just bribe the policemen and send them away.
This practice, when followed for quite sometime, leads to Bribery being considered as a Tradition. You have many movies in Bollywood/Kollywood/Tollywood/ any other language if you are really interested to know... which depict this.
Another thing to be noted here is that the fear that exists in the minds of people make them pay up. A policeman is with the law and he is able to point out any loopholes in your work. They come as a team and if you argue, you end up losing, either money or reputation or some other very valuable thing.
It happened to me some years ago. I was in my school and was riding my bicycle on our street. We were living in Mysore and the street was pretty small. Occasionally, I was riding slowly. All of a sudden, a neighbors kid runs out to the street from her house and comes and rams into my cycle. It is her mistake, her parents and a few other neighbors have seen that. One of her uncles was a policeman and when he came to enquire, none of the neighbors spoke up. Her parents wanted to use this as an opportunity and gain money. The policeman came home, spoke to my parents, threatened me with dire consequences. My Dad took everything with a cool head, then, went out somewhere. When he came back, the policeman saluted him. Whatever happened between them is a mystery even today... which is never going to be solved. Dad is dead now. I don't remember the policeman's name.
Later, I got to know that this policeman (though he was an uncle of the kid who rammed into my cycle) was bribed by all our neighbors not to trouble them. Eventhough the neighbors were no way related to whatever happened that day, it is their fear of policemen which made them shell out money.
Why do people fear police?? One reason is that this fear is brought about by their parents when they were very young... You might see it even to this day. When a child cries too much or when a child does not pay heed to its parents words, the first thing that the parent says is that they are going to take the child to a police station. My neice was once told the same by my sister. I went to my neice, took her to a police station in Bangalore, made her interact with a few policemen and now, her fear is gone.
The other reason is that these people might have something to hide and if a policeman comes, they fear that he might get to know whatever they are hiding. So, they fear the policemen, bribe them and send them away.
One more reason is that policemen themselves are asking for the bribes. When a policeman asks for something, the easiest thing to do is to give him that thing and send him away. Else, the policemen threaten these guillible people and in a few cases (esp. in rural areas), they take a member of the family to the station. What is at stake is the reputation of this family, the time this family has to spend shuttling between the station and their daily places of work. So, to avoid all this, they just bribe the policemen and send them away.
This practice, when followed for quite sometime, leads to Bribery being considered as a Tradition. You have many movies in Bollywood/Kollywood/Tollywood/ any other language if you are really interested to know... which depict this.
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