Honest Bribe

I knew I was going to a "third world" country and in some sense I knew what that meant; poverty, pollution, no running water, etc. You can understand these things but you can never really grasp this reality until you have seen it. I went to Goa, the "Bahamas of India" I was in the most tourist spot of the continent, yet I now understand what "third world" truly means. India can only be described as exhausting sensory overload of beauty and despair. The book Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts "There is a difference between the dishonest bribe and the honest bribe. The dishonest bribe is the same in every country, but the honest bribe is India's alone." I did not read this quote until my 3rd day in India, This quote was a light bulb, I began to understand the culture. The place that I stayed was a restaurant and guest house, my group befriended many of the waiters. Harry was one of the waiters that we got to know during our stay (ok, his name wasn't Harry but I have no idea how to spell/pronounce his actual name). Harry lived in Goa with 15 others guys in a one bathroom house, he worked 6-7 days a week, he got Saturday off every other week. He told us a story of getting his drivers license. He went to the Indian DMV, took the test, past, went to the window to receive his license, the DMV told him to come back in 15 days. He came back 15 days later, the DMV said that he needed to take the test again. Harry took the test, past, they said he would have to come back again to get his legal papers. Harry then slipped the DMV man 200 rupee and was given his Drivers License within the hour. Imagine! The DMV is already a nightmare....Imagine having to give a $20 just to get anything done.