My current adopted domicile, Bangalore (and by default, Karnataka) stands 4th from the bottom, which is occupied by - you guessed right - Bihar!!!

Very true, recently a local website published the going rates in a “bribe tariff card” which makes really interesting reading….for more, see: http://www.karnataka.com/govt/corruption/

The content of the webpage might seem biased but the rate card is very believable…u gotta see the reality here in Bangalore..it has become downright miserable…with the crumbling infrastructure - all thanks to the bickering blighted politicians (read Deva Gowda & his cronies)…

Well…I wouldn’t have taken this quite seriously - but for a recent incident…for the past 2 yrs, I have been driving here in Bangalore with a Kerala registration plate. Though I had paid up the local taxes, I didn’t bother to change the number to a Karnataka registration….I have been stopped on the roads by cops earlier, but never have I got into trouble, thanks to proper documentation…recently after a tiring drive home from work, a measly cop stopped me and demanded bribe for the offending number plate…Normally I would have solved the matter with INR100…..but the newspaper reports have been on the back of my mind and I got nasty with the cop…I invoked the name of the Lok Ayuktha (local vigilance don)…and mother of all miracles - I sang my way home….

Goes to prove the human propensity to fear the unknown powers..The Lok Ayuktha has been driving politicians and bureaucrats, scared shitless, these days - even though the mightier evil guys havent been touched at all…