Siddhu
Today I heard the funniest thing. It was a news item about Siddhu – if you live in India and have even a passing interest in cricket you know that he is funny, articulate, and opinionated - and knows a lot about Cricket. Apparently his Cricket commentaries not only got him a huge fan following but also a ticket to the Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament.
But that is not what’s funny. The other day, I heard on TV that he had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter - for fisticuffs, which resulted in his opponent going home and having a heart attack. No, no – that’s not funny either. What comes next is.
As soon as he was convicted, he resigned his Lok Sabha seat. Apparently the format in which he submitted his resignation was not acceptable to the bureaucrats, and for several days they refused to accept it! I almost fell off my chair laughing!
You see, in India, thanks to the British colonial past and the resulting clerk (“Babu”) mentality, nothing can be done without “the proper papers” and you must “follow proper procedure”. So if a convicted criminal has to resign a position of public trust, he needs to “follow proper procedure”, or else, By Golly, he has to remain in his position of power!
I fight this battle not only in every government office I go to - even private companies act like this. My bank (the ^%*@#&*s) refused to cash a check because I had not rubber stamped it. No matter that they did not enforce this rule for the 430 previous checks. I told them on the phone “Look, anyone can walk down the street and get a rubber stamp made for thirty rupees. Is the rubber stamp more important or my signature on the check?”
Their answer? “Sorry Sir, we have to follow proper procedure”.
Aaaaarrrrgggghh!!!!!!!
But that is not what’s funny. The other day, I heard on TV that he had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter - for fisticuffs, which resulted in his opponent going home and having a heart attack. No, no – that’s not funny either. What comes next is.
As soon as he was convicted, he resigned his Lok Sabha seat. Apparently the format in which he submitted his resignation was not acceptable to the bureaucrats, and for several days they refused to accept it! I almost fell off my chair laughing!
You see, in India, thanks to the British colonial past and the resulting clerk (“Babu”) mentality, nothing can be done without “the proper papers” and you must “follow proper procedure”. So if a convicted criminal has to resign a position of public trust, he needs to “follow proper procedure”, or else, By Golly, he has to remain in his position of power!
I fight this battle not only in every government office I go to - even private companies act like this. My bank (the ^%*@#&*s) refused to cash a check because I had not rubber stamped it. No matter that they did not enforce this rule for the 430 previous checks. I told them on the phone “Look, anyone can walk down the street and get a rubber stamp made for thirty rupees. Is the rubber stamp more important or my signature on the check?”
Their answer? “Sorry Sir, we have to follow proper procedure”.
Aaaaarrrrgggghh!!!!!!!
posted by Anil Gupte at 2:07 AM
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