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Part I : You would not believe this…
The other day I was talking to one of my customers. He is in the printing business. While his order was getting ready - we were just chatting. As we were chatting we landed on the subject - India & Corruption. We have already heard numerous stories about corruption in India. Let me first start with something nice:
There was once this beggar in India. He used to beg with a bowl in one hand. He went around Signals, and when there was a red-light - he used to scamper around the vehicles crying out “allah ke nam pe kuch dedo baba” (please help in god’s name). People used to feel pity on him and give him something. There is this other man who goes to office every day by the same signal where our beggar does his “business”. He also feels pity sometimes and gives the man some change.
One day morning our office man notices that the beggar is going around begging with a bowl in each hand. Our man was puzzled. So when he is coming back from office, he get’s down at the signal. He waits for the signal to turn green so that the beggar will come to the foot-path on which he is waiting. Finally the signal changes to green and as the vehicle’s start moving, our beggar moves quickly to the foot path, to avoid being hit by any of the vehicles. Our man now approaches the beggar. He tells him how he has been watching him for quite some time, and how sometimes, he also used to donate. But he now was puzzled about the second bowl in his other hand.
The beggar without any emotions on his face replied “Business has been good, so I decided to open a new branch” and rushed off to the next red signal.
I don’t know if this is a true story - but I believe this can happen in India. And I have no doubt that the rumors about beggars being richer than most of the people driving merc’s around town might actually be true.
Coming back to my customer - he is in the printing business. He had his business (I am avoiding all names and locations from this story) set up in one of India’s major metro cities. His business was going very good. He had major contracts with big private companies and government institutions to supply printer stationary (letter heads, envelops, application forms, registers…) One of his contracts was with this government owned premier health institution. This institution used to produce around 5 to 8 truckloads of medical waste every day.
Now the business part: This truck load of medical waste was being bought by a contractor, after paying Rs. 1Lk to the medical supervisor. Each truckload was worth Rs. 1Lk. These trucks were then taken to another city where the contractor had his warehouse. Inside his warehouse, he had employees sorting and cleaning all the medical waste. The needles, syringes, tubes etc were then put into industrial washing machines and washed thoroughly using cheep detergent. All these were then repacked into branded boxes and sealed plastic covers. When the finished product comes out of the warehouse, one truck of medical waste is now going to be sold for almost Rs. 18Lk
No wonder Indians are considered to be the best business people in the world. They can turn even dust into gold. Did you know that doctors actually keep you sick all the time so that you keep coming back to them? How do I know this? Well I work for a big group that invested into Hospitals and health care also, and one of my Directors happen to mention to me how the commission system works in hospitals.
Coming back to my customer - he had a cousin and this guy used to have constant head-ache. He used to visit his doctor regularly and he used to write out some prescription and this guy used to take the medicine. So the Doctor finally told him that he had to take a CAT scan to find out what exactly was wrong.
The doctor had referred him to a clinic where my customer was supplying stationary. He got a little suspicious and took him to one of his good friends who was a doctor. He took the prescription to him and asked him what could be the problem. The friend after going through the prescription - told him with a serious face “your cousin has been taking medicine for inducing labor pains during pregnancy”
You all know about the urea milk story and I am sure you guys now avoid all kinds of milk based sweets. These are a few stories that we know - there are many that we don’t know.
Am I happy to be outside India? Maybe yes; maybe not….
There is more coming, so keep a watch out for @ www.kenneyjacob.com
Meanwhile leave a comment below…
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10 comments ↓
Indians consider themselves as the most successful business people.. but whats there if you haven’t any business ethics?
One thing you can do is, reveal the name of that Bas**rd, and put him behind the bar.
a person cannot change the entire society, but..
“be the change you wish to see in the world” - MK Gandhi.
part 1 is an exact trailer of indian corruption
w8ing 4 part 2
The last head ache tale is a bit too far fetched…your customer might just be trying to wind it up. There are meds which can induce a pain, which can easily be explained by a physician, but which doctor would hang himself by giving such a feminine drug?
The beggar story could be true…and it happens only in India, as the Bollywood song goes..:)
Good one
Its a relly good one. Indians are known to be good business people. But it is necessary to sustain the goodness in them.Doing business corruptly or for harm of the society is not a business at all.It will not last long.
Hope I can help create awareness.
[…] ← Lucifer Speaking […]
Beggar story is true in many parts of the world.
When you enter Washington city you can see the hi-fi beggars at ed of the toll road (and the belt road)
these guys have cars picking them up once they are finished with the work each day
nice!
Good one lucifer, enjoyed reading it but at the end it’s always “Mera Bharat Mahan”.
[…] those who have not read part 1 & 2; here are the Links: Part1 […]
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