Anatomy Of Sin

Among the other points Mitra makes, not all of which I agree with, are: a) while corruption has been turned into a way of life by the unholy alliance of businessman, bureaucrat and politician, it is the businessman who must bear the largest blame; that what I will label parliamentary corruption, i.e., buying MPs votes to maintain ones majority, is in the same league with corrupting reformed Naxalites into ratting on their comrades; with some of the excesses of judicial activism, and the use of money by the Centre to exert political influence in sensitive areas of the country. All of these fit Mitra's primal definition of corruption and yet are as different from each other as fish from fowl. His definition of corruption thus is too inclusive. It loses some usefulness even as it allows him to tell a good tale.

You will meet a host of colourful characters here: Maj. Gen. Claude Martin of La Martiniere; Rajendra Gowd, who claimed he'd married Priyanka Gandhi; M.K. Bezbaruah and other IAS officers who got it in the neck for their honesty; Neera Yadav and other's who were trenchant in their denunciation of corruption but might occasionally have looked the other way, and of course colourful scamsters from Haridas Mundhra to 'Big Bull' Harshad Mehta.

Mitra's chapters on the anatomy of the scam on the destruction of the bureaucracy caught between the demand and supply grindstones of the businessman and the politician are the best. His suggestions on how petty, bureaucratic corruption can be reduced if not eradicated, are also insightful.

But in the final analysis the book fails to satisfy. It doesn't even try to describe the structural nature of corruption, especially political corruption: the way in which from small beginnings it mushrooms into a ravening monster that eats up all institutions. History is replete with examples, from Babylon to Ottoman Turkey. India is more than half way down the road, for today not one of the institutions of government commands the trust of the people: neither the cabinet, the police, the judiciary; or even, regrettably, the press. Recently, we've seen one more institution, the armed forces, dragged into the mire. The time for setting things right is thus fast running out, but unless we understand how corruption runs amok, unless we can identify the single original sin society or its leaders committed that made this possible, we will remain at sea. It is pointless to argue that all societies are corrupt: this is a tautology and an admission of defeat. Fortunately, it's also not quite true. There are obvious and vast differences between societies. Only understanding the reason why will help to eradicate them.