Resolve to eliminate/reduce corruption

There has been a great deal of talk about corruption these days. I do hope we succeed in the anti-corruption crusade.

My thoughts go to the other varied ways in which we have become corrupt. We ill-treat those who are not ‘important’ to us. In India we specialize in taking people’s time for granted. In Hyderabad there was a proverb: If he says ‘abbi araun’ i.e. ‘I’ll just come’, it means ‘Wait for an hour or two’. If he says ‘thodi dair mein aroon’, he may come the next day. And if he says ‘parsoon atoon, i.e. ‘I’ll come day-after -omorrow’, you can forget him altogether. Is it not corruption to misuse people’s time like this?

Then let’s look at basic courtesies and caring. A compassionate housewife offers a glass of water even to a stranger who has come to deliver an envelope – but she may forget to inquire whether her husband who has just returned home requires to quench his thirst. And the less said about the husband’s consideration towards his wife, the better.

Look around you and see the callousness with which we waste scarce commodities such as water, electricity, food, etc. Referring to abortion Mother Teresa had said words to the effect: “It is a great poverty of humans that we deny a human life from entering this world, so that we can lead richer lives.” The same applies to the way we neglect those who are less fortunate than we are – the poor, the footpath dwellers, the sick, the old and incapable, those rotting in jails, the marginal farmers, and child labour.

Can we make a resolution and eliminate or at least reduce these kinds of corruption?