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A Bribe: Once upon a time, in a village near the Banas River there lived side by side a Gurjar and a merchant family. Both were on friendly terms. While the Gurjar was poor but honest, the merchant was cunning and shrewd. Besides his grocery business, the merchant loaned his money on very high interest.
A Bribe: Indian Folktale by Dina Nath
One day, nobody came to his shop either for purchasing or for loan. In the evening, the merchant approached his friend Gurjar and said, “For how long you want to remain poor? If you think you should be well off, take money from me, my friend and purchase a buffalo of the best breed.” The Gurjar at first refused the offer and said that he was satisfied with his poverty. However, after some persuasion, he agreed to take the money on interest to by a buffalo and promised to repay it as soon as he could.
Days passed, due to continuous drought and other unforeseen circumstance, the Gurjar could not keep his promise.
The merchant reminded the Gurjar from time to time, about the loan, but the Gurjar was helpless and could not keep his promise. The merchant wanted his money to keep flowing, but in this case the flow had stopped and showed no sign of reviving.
The merchant lost his patience. He send a number of reminder and threats too, but of no avail. At last, the merchant filed a suit against the Gurjar in the local panchayat. For a long time, the panchayat could not meet. The merchant became furious. Ultimately, he came out with a bribe to the sarpanch. It was in the shape of pagari (turban). The Gurjar came to know about the bribe. He, as result, also offered a bribe. It was in the shape of a buffalo, which the sarpanch liked very much.
At long last, the panchayat met and heard the plea from both the sides. The judgment went in favor of the Gurjar who was asked to pay the loan at his convenience. The merchant was at a loss to understand the mystery behind the judgment and also the sarpanch’s motive. As the proceedings were going on, he tried to attract the attention of the sarpanch by touching his turban again and again, but the sarpanch ignored it.
Finally, he could not restrain himself and reproved the sarpanch, saying: “Kindly do give regard to my old age as also to this white turban.”
The sarpanch got his point. He replied in the same refrain: “The buffalo has eaten the turban, Seth Ji,” and smiled.
Gram panchayat:
Gram panchayat (Village council) is a basic governing institution in Indian villages. It is a political institution, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram sabha work as the general body of the Gram panchayat. The members of the Gram panchayat are elected directly by the people.
The President of Gram Panchayat is called Pradhan or Sarpanch There are about 250,000 Gram panchayats in India.
