Bribe of One Rupee.

This thread is based on incident written in book of Qudrat Ullah Shahab.
I will post it without a comment.

He writes in his universalistic autobiography named “Shahab-Naama” that once when he was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of the district Jhang.

He happened to meet an old helpless lady. She was complaining that she had a piece of land which is to be transferred onto her name but the Patwari (an official in Pakistan who visits agricultural lands and maintains records of their ownership and tilling) was not doing

so without taking the bribe. She had nothing to pay as a bribe. She kept pushing in various offices but was not heard anywhere. Listening to her traumatic myth, Qudrat Ullah Shahab took her in his car and went on to meet the patwari whose office was located almost 60 miles away.

On seeing the Deputy Commissioner in their own village, a mob of people pounced and gathered around them. The patwari swore in front of everyone that the old lady was evil and that she had a habit of complaining about the wrong things.

To prove his swearing, the Patwari rushed inside and took a book that was wrapped in cloth. The patwari then put that book on his head and said, “Sir look I swear on this holy book”.

On that, a young villager passed a smile by asking the Deputy Commissioner to have a look inside that bag. Qudrat Ullah Shahab asked his men to open the bag. There were some registers of his own office instead of the Holy Quran.

After being humiliated, the Patwari brought a register on the Deputy Commissioner’s order and transferred the land on the name of that old lady obediently.

She had tied a few coins at a corner of her scarf. They were 16 annas (anna was a coin in India and Pakistan made up of copper, one anna was of 6.25 paisa’s). She put those 16 annas in the deputy commissioner’s pocket secretly so that no one other could see that.

That act of innocence and helplessness made the Deputy Commissioner cry. She also gave prayer to QUS, "Putar Allah tenu patwari Banaye", perhaps she thought it is the highest rank in the world.

Qudrat Ullah Shahab says that those 16 annas were the only bribe that he has accepted throughout his career. He says that he had not spent those coins yet, as he believes that it was such a holy gift that made him rich for the whole life.