"Corruption" in India is as pervasive as the air.

Corruption In India:-

Whether it is hiring an auto-rickshaw after a tiresome return journey to your city, or getting a police verification done for your newly tenanted apartment, you are not going to get away without spending some extra bucks- anywhere from an excess hundred to five hundred rupee note. Now, hundred rupees is not much to most of you today, who might prefer to spend it on a cup of coffee at Barista, or gormandizing a Pizza, or watching another hopeless Bollywood movie. This goes far beyond the hundred rupee note.

It's a disease. It's a disease which is there, but there is no apparent way to combat it- you just accept it. Everybody around seems to be obsessed with money. From petty auto-rickshaw drivers charging 150-300 Rupees for a journey where it should have only been 100, to Policemen, Lawyers, and Government Officials demanding anywhere in Thousands just to get your work done- Mind you, a work which they're being paid to do in the first place by the government.

Something so simple as reading a police verification form and assessing that the said tenant comes from a good background and/or isn't liable to cause nuisance or engage in any activity deemed criminal or antisocial, and attesting a stamp and signature on it as a way of approval, you'll be charged Rs. 100. Actually, it's not a rule or an obligation. You've to pay so the police official would comply and get your form approved. What happens if you don't comply? Well, the usual. The typical Indian way is to just make excuses and delay your work  The renowned Economist Partha Dasgupta in his "Economics-A very short introduction-Oxford University Press"  makes a point that the reason most Indian government offices are overcrowded and there's the usual "queue" mentality is that they have managed to define people's existence by way of  this mentality of the queue- If you want to get ahead of the queue, start paying. First to the peon, then to the middle clerk, and then to the officer. He also goes on to quote some statistics about how it takes a significantly more time in India to Register a business, and every other commercial activity than "developed"
countries.

What is the reaction?

Indians from all social, economic and educational backgrounds are well-aware about the "pay a note" trend. I saw petty people and unrefined people alike who visited the station to get a police verification done. They were all being delayed and had been visiting 2nd, 3rd, or 5th time in 3 days. When I finally got mine done, I was clandestinely notified that I'm supposed to give "one". Thankfully for me, it meant one hundred and not one thousand- and mind you- this gesture came after my agreement was stamped/attested. I could've retreated without responding to the gesture.  Besides me was a Real estate agent guy(another dime a dozen lowly fellow) I knew, getting his stacks of police verifications stamped.                          

It seems to me there are two kinds of people when it comes to it- A)Those that are either too lazy to visit the particular govt. office(this is a major reason why it has become a vicious cycle) and thus would rather pay 400-500 Rupees from something as simple as getting their Tenanted property or Leased Property agreement verified to just meeting the "Senior official" without having to face any queue. B)Those that are genuinely affected or bothered by the existence of this trap, willing to visit the office and wait for the glorious venerated officials, so they won't have to pay any unnecessary amount of money- Including myself- and yet end up paying it. It does feel like you've just slept with a hooker and are paying her some money- only in this case- you were the whore. You pay everywhere to get governmental work done which you shouldn't have to pay for.

                    

Most Indians damn well know they would much rather spend 100-200 bucks than deal with these officials or make at least 2-4 visits to the said office-in this case- the police station. In fact, the trend around here(in Pune) is for Real Estate Agents to get the "police verification" done for their clients, in most cases the owners have no idea who their own tenants are, and the official will take anywhere between Rs. 200-500 to stamp stacks of these "police verification" forms. Is it any surprise why India is where it is?

What can be done? 

At this time, most of the better-off Indians are typing away on their Iphones or Tablets, or sipping an expensive cup of coffee at Barista, munching a sandwich at Subway. I refuse to be another hero to the millions of The (great) Unwashed, half unaware,  half unknowing, in these times and culture of ours where Pornstars such as Sunny Leone are being Imported from abroad, given movie roles and are further being glorified as symbols of movie stardom. Good luck tweeting, cheering for your favourite cricket stars, and wondering how bold and audacious Sonam Kapoor must be for donning a damn bikini. You might as well cheer for new-age heroes such as Anna Hazare and Narendra Modi- I remain unconcerned. I still feel disgust and abhorrence for the paid 100-Rupee note. Unlike you, I am not accustomed to carelessly spending 100 Rupee-notes on Indian movies featuring the talents of Emran Haashmi and Sunny Leone.
Live it up.