MadMan talks about The corrupt and the religious but slightly misses the point. Saith he:

And yet the greedy, money-grubbing government lackey will make regular visits to Tirupati, Dharmasthala, and numerous other “holy” places to seek the blessings of the almighty. They must have missed their religion’s lessons about leading a virtuous life.

You see, under the present system of institutionalized corruption you have two options if you want to lead an honest life:

1. Don’t join a government job
2. Go with the tide aka be corrupt

If you don’t opt for #2 and try to be honest, you’ll be seen as the weak link in the chain. Eventually, those around you will gang up and make your life miserable. Thus, leading a virtuous life however desirable it be for you won’t really work in today’s scheme of things in babudom/government. That’s beside the point. The real reason why these assholes are so religious is precisely because they are so corrupt. A person who:

• Pays taxes regularly
• Respects the law
• Doesn’t willingly hurt others
• Is generally fair in all his dealings

has little use for looking up religious precepts. He’s already living them. On the other hand, a person who typifies corruption knows what he is doing is wrong and hence tries to seek justification for his “moral depravity” by doing the charade that MadMan has witnessed in government offices. He is overtly religious: he has a prominent mark of kumkum, a locket of this or that god/goddess, he fasts, prays, and goes on pilgrimages with a zeal so he can wash his slate of sins clean. He does all this in the hope that–to paraphrase MadMan–”the all-seeing deity that dispenses justice based on his actions in this world” gives him a discount. Hell! the asshole is religious even when he performs the act of corruption. Case in point. I once went to the Land Records office to get a verification report of some documents. More than 2 weeks had elapsed since I’d submitted my application. To avoid the queue, I reached there at 9:30 to find the clerk at his seat (surprise!). After he verified my docket number, he began a prattle about his duty consciousness–how he never keeps any file “pending,” that files from his table always “move fast,” that he’s one of those rare clerks who is always punctual (see your watch sir, nobody is here except me), etc–I got the hint and paid him 50 bucks. He took it and pressed it to his eyes, and blew it a light kiss (a standard religious procedure) before pocketing it. It then flashed that this money was his “boni.” (Boni=First cash inflow for the day. It is typically treated in India with extreme reverence. Notice that shopkeepers refuse credit if the boni has not been done. In fact, they get angry if you ask them credit before boni as they see it as an inauspicious sign.)

These assholes are shit scared about their children more than anything. Several instances from my experience come to mind. This happened more than 10 years ago. A far off relative had worked for 30+ years in the PWD and had retired. On one occasion I heard him say, “don’t openly ask for money. If they give it out of khushi (goodwill/happiness), don’t refuse it. Remember, always make sure that they give you money out of khushi.” When I asked him how that made a difference, that it was still a bribe–you don’t have to be paid extra for doing your job, etc–he shook his head sweetly but refused to respond. I persisted. He was flustered, but told me that’s how things in government offices work. I still didn’t budge. This time, he raised his voice and told me I didn’t know how to give respect to elders (he’s close to 70 now). A few years after that conversation, his son was arrested for smuggling. He was eventually bailed out, but was arrested again, twice after that. This naturally caused a lot of pain to the father. And he turned zealously religious almost overnight. He conducts this or that yagna or pooja regularly, and an annual pilgrimage is a must. About 3 years ago, he went on the Amarnath yatra on foot.

This I guess spells out what I meant when I said MadMan slightly misses the point.