Narrator: It’s August 14th, the day before the Independence Day and the day looked beautiful and promising. One lady is seen amongst the crowd. hough she looked like any normal woman, her noble and dignified demeanor set her apart from e!eryone else in the place. "et, "et, people went by without e!en throwing a glance at the stately lady. lad y. #or some reason, she is in!isible to their e yes. $he is the %harat &ata. "es, "es, the &other of India. As she crossed a building, she heard some !oices and stopped to listen. Man: $ir, I need a '' for my daughter. (ere is my ration card and the details of the child’s background. Narrator: he officer !erifies all the necessary papers. Officer: )!erything’s in order, but for one*. Man: I don’t understand sir* Narrator: he officer rings the bell. (is assistant enters. Officer: ake ake him out and e+plain e+p lain the procedures here.
"es sir. After coming out- i!e me /00 /0 0 rupees. "ou "ou know the procedure or Assistant: "es what m y child’s Man: %ut sir* I am from a poor family and I ha!e enough money only to pay my school fee and today’s the last day too. 2lease sir* Assistant: )!en I ha!e a child who’s been asking for a new cricket set and I ha! e a few rupees short. $o either hand o!er o !er the money or else* well, you know the process.
Narrator: he man gi!es away, half3heartedly.
"ou must attach 00 rupees along with the details, if you want to get it signed. Assistant: "ou Man: %ut sir*I* Assistant: If you are to argue with the officer like this. (e may e!en tear the '' in anger and you will ne!er get it. Narrator: he man hands out the money bitterly cursing under his breath Man: hey get salary from the go!ernment for doing their 5obs and yet* Don’t know how I’m going to pay my child’s fee* Bharat Mata: oodness* his is outrageous6
Narrator: %ut then her spirits rose a little. BM: here’ll always be one or two black sheep e!erywhere. 7et me try some other place. $urely it’ll be a better story there. Narrator: $he turns towards a building, hoping it would brighten things up. It was the )lectricity %oard Department. Woman: $ir, I ha!e telephoned and e!en launched 8 complaints that the street lights aren’t working in our street for the past 4 months. 2eople* especially children, suffer a lot* Officer: $orry ma’am* your complaint didn’t reach me. Woman: 9hat do you mean it didn’t reach you It was me who had filed them directly to you, sir6 I hope you don’t e+pect me to belie!e what you say6
Officer [to his assistant] : "ou there* take this woman out. Narrator: Outside the office:
Assistant: 9hat’s wrong with you ma’am 9hy don’t you 5ust gi!e him wha t he asked for Woman: 9hat do you mean Assistant: %ribe ma’am, bribe* as you people call it. If you want your work to get done, you must gi!e him money. Woman [indignantly]: his is unfair* then what is he paid by the go!ernment for ;e+t beggars will start demanding coins from us6 Assistant: "ou don’t argue and waste time here. )ither gi!e the money or mo!e away. Narrator: %harat &ata watched as the woman ga!e a scathing look at the electricity board and ga!e the money to the office assistant. $he looked near hopeless and crestfallen.
IT officer: $ir, there’s going to be an income ta+ raid in your home, tonight at =.002&. It’s secretly arranged, so be prepared, sir. Rich Man: >ight* I’ll see to it. IT officer: &eanwhile pay some attention on this poor man, sir*
Rich Man: $ure* It’ll be done. Narrator: 7ater, the I officer’s wife calls him on phone. IT officer: (ello Wife: )!erything has reached us safely. All the appliances are from good companies. I think our child will be !ery happy with her new laptop.
BM [forlornly]: I ne!er e+pected this* )!en the family members, who are supposed to ad!ice these corrupt officials against this !ice, are supporting them. 9here are the leaders who are responsible for all this disorder and chaos Narrator:
Girl: Of course, I can see you6 I ha!e eyes for a reason. $o what’s up BM: I don’t think I can bear any more corruption* Girl: Oh* $o you’re a !ictim of that dreaded disease too, huh BM: "ou mean there@s someone you know who is.... Girl: I am6
I application to get my work done in one of those go!ernment departments. 2eople call me a fool for wasting so much time, when I could easily ha!e done it with some money* Narrator : he girl pauses, as if she was going through the e!ents of the past few days. Girl: %ut I’m not going to gi!e any money... not e!en paise6 9hy should I his is braen in5ustice and I’m not going to tolerate it any longer. Narrator: $he looked pensi!e and had her eyes fi+ed somewhere in mid3air. %harat &ata didn@t break the silence, as she watched the girl curiously. hen, suddenly with the !igor of someone who had made a decision, she got up. Girl: I think I’!e got to go* ot some work to do. It was nice meeting you.
Narrator: And she rushed off without a second glance. %harat &ata got up from the bench. $he looked again towards the direction in which the girl had gone and she smiled. here was still hope* om!eer: And that my dear friends, is the end of the skit. 'orruption in India thri!es on our indifference and ignorance. &any of us are going to face corruption one day or the other, and when we do, we should be sure that we don’t yield to this !ice. It’s high time we understood the difference between ad5usting to situations and tolerating in5ustice, because in the latter case, the more we tolerate, the more in5ustice will be inflicted on us. 7et’s B%e the change we want to see in the world.C