At a recent gathering in New Delhi, more than 100 women competed to draw the most eye-catching designs on their palms in mehndi, or henna, a traditional art. The winning design was an intricate floral, but second and third places went to contestants who used skin as a medium of protest against bribes and rake-offs. Most of the entrants were similarly inspired, drawing officials sitting on sacks of money and caricatures of politicians accused of corruption, including former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. The most fervent allowed the designs to go off the palm and all the way up to their elbows. Which is not surprising in a land chin deep in official venality.
Politicians catch most of the heat because they accumulate the plumpest moneybags.
In just one of the scandals dominating the newspapers, investigators raided the residence of former Telecommunications Minister Sukh Ram in August and found piles of bank notes. But on the whole, more cash is accumulated by India's vast army of salaried government employees, numbering nearly 20 million, who siphon away development project funds, hold up approvals for bribes, or demand payment for such privileges as getting a telephone or even, in some cities, sleeping on the pavement. They are rarely caught and never have to worry about being booted out in an election. But now some heat is being fanned their way. A handful of high-profile civil servants have published books that expose rampant official wrongdoing, especially at the senior levels.