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By

Prof. M J Xavier1, Director ʹ IIM Ranchi

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We are living in the age of swindles, stings and scams. A question that haunts every Indian citizen is
whether any redemption from this moral turpitude is possible at all. Different people have different
takes on this issue.The media thrives on it through so-called sting operations and investigative
journalism; it is a different matter that some of the media could also be bought. Pseudo intellectuals
derive satisfaction by sharing these investigative reports with their Facebook friends on the Internet; it
isalso a fact that most of them do not even read them before passing on to others. Self- appointed
guardians of morals preach and pray for the renaissance of Indian ethos and values. The common man
isstruggling to make his ends meet in the face of stiff inflation and looking forward to more freebies
from the government.In this article, we present the theory of `forbidden apple͛ to analyze and
understand the moral crisis that haunts India.

 
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The problem of the forbidden fruit is as old as mankind; Adam and Eve being the first set of
victims/beneficiaries. While there were plenty of fruits in the garden of Eden, the world͛s first couple fell
for the forbidden ones for the simple reason that it was forbidden. It is in the DNA of every human
being to long for what is not rightfully his/her own. It remained under check during the agrarian age
(read as, feudal system) as it was the essential requirement of the landlords for protecting their
properties and maintaining the power equation. Though several of the great civilizations of the world
have passed through a feudal period in the course of their history, India is still suffering from the
hangover of the feudal age. What moralists are preaching is nothing but romanticism of the past.

The advent of industrial/information age opened the flood gate of opportunities for the repressed
masses. Though it brought material comforts to the common man, hitherto available only to the

1
The views expressed by the author are his own and it does not any way reflect that of the organization that he
works for.
nobility, it has also resulted in the erosion of values that were held sacred during the feudal age. Most
people believe in `money by any means͛ and are not averse to enjoying the forbidden fruits. The pseudo
intellectuals are those aspiring to make it big in life but do not have opportunities to taste the
`forbidden fruits͛. These group of people are jealous of those who have made it big in life, either through
hard work or through illegitimate means. These are vocal about the need for a change but will not lift
their fingers to take any corrective action. There is nomagic wand nor a single solution available for
keeping the entire population away from the forbidden apple. We need to understand different
categories of people and use different strokes for different folks.

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Broadly people can be classified into six categories based on the forbidden apple theory. Primarily, there
are two broad categories of people; (i) those who get opportunities to enjoy `forbidden fruit͛ and
(ii)those with no opportunities (see Figure). Basically, people in power, either in private, public, social or
government sectors, belong to the first category. My own estimate is that approximately 20% people
should belong to this category. Not everyone who have the opportunity to taste the forbidden apples,
avail of the opportunity; some out of fear and a few out of self-determination. I call those who stay
away from the forbidden apple out of fear as `Humans͛ while those who have self-determination to
keep away from forbidden apples as `Angels͛. In the same way, those who avail of opportunities to taste
the forbidden apple can be classified into two further categories; (i) those who enjoy the benefits,
knowing fully well that it is illegal and/or immoral, whom I call `Demons͛ and (ii) those who do not
possess the sensitivity to know what they are doing is illegitimate (may due to their upbringing), whom I
call `Animals͛. The remaining 80% who do not get opportunities, again can be of two types; (i) those
who don͛t care as to who is eating what but are more concerned with their next meal, whom I call
`Pseudo Angels͛ and (ii) those who are outwardly seen as clean but are internally feeling jealous of those
who enjoy forbidden apples, whom I call `Pseudo Humans͛. We shall now see the behavior of these six
categories of people in some more depth.

Animals: These are people who do not know the distinction between what is right and wrong. They put
selfish interest above that of all others. They would go to any extent to get what they want. These are
people who must have experienced troubled childhood marked by starvation/deprivation. Or, they must
have grown up in a corrupting environment. For example, parents who take bribes and who believe in
short cuts can have the same corrupting influence on their children. These people go to capitation
colleges and get degrees by paying money. They use short cuts to get jobs or make money in business.
They become so insensitive to rules and regulation that they tend to believe that `money can buy
anything͛. These people will have utter disregard for any rules and regulations. They do not experience
any guilt while enjoying the forbidden apples. Most of them also tend to be very religious and perform
poojas for their own well being. These people can be reformed through severe deterrents, such as the
eye-for-eye kind of laws.

Demons: While the `Animals͛ are corrupt from childhood, these are people who yield to the temptation
in the later part of their life. These people are no different from animals, except that they experience a
sense of guilt. Some of these people will be very religious too. As a guilt reduction mechanism these
people tend to share a percentage of their booty with their favorite Gods. No law will be good enough
to control them. These people tend to be highly educated and tend to become masters in scientific
corruption. Systems will need to be fool-proof and transparent to control this category of people.

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Six Categories of People

Humans: These are people who have been brought up with strong value systems but may lack
conviction. What saves them from committing economic offenses is their fear of getting caught. The
strong sense of honor that they have comes to their rescue. These people respect social norms. They
are called `Humans͛ because these people find a good balance between individual aspirations and
societal norms. However, they might be willing to compromise on small matters. For example, they may
be open to paying speed money in a Government office to get things done. They may accept small gifts
for favors done to others. But they would not go to the extent of committing serious offenses. For these
people, the value systems get built in the family during the early part of life itself. We only need to
reinforce the values in their workplaces through rewards and punishments.

Angels: These are people who would have had a good upbringing and also would be very accomplished
persons. They do not have the need to indulge in illegitimate activities to make money. Basically they
feel full inside and do feel compelled to compare themselves with others. These are the proverbial
philosopher Kings. If we can have more leaders of this kind, we can be sure of a better future for our
country.

Pseudo Angels:These are people who are mostly in the below the poverty line category. They are
struggling to make their ends meet. They typically tend to worry about their next meal, rather than
discuss and debate the moral degradation or rise in corruption. They cannot even understand the
number of digits in the money swindled in different scams. Currently they are angels as they are not
harming the society. However, we cannot predict as to how they will behave if the same people are put
in positions of power with opportunities for misuse of the authority vested in them. Hence I call them
pseudo Angels.

Pseudo Humans: These are people who do not have much opportunity to taste the forbidden apple but
feel jealous of those who enjoy the same. They do envy their own batch mates, who have amassed a
lot of wealth through illegal means. They tend to be educated but would not be having jobs
commensurate with their qualifications. Basically they are paranoid people. These people are vocal
about issues related to corruption. They get excited when they exchange emails on black money
stashed away in foreign banks or the size of the 2G scam. Beyond that they would not be able to do
much to eradicate the ills of the society.

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Table 1, summarizes the profile of different types of people and strategies to deal with each one of
them. Animals do not understand anything other than severe and stringent punishment. We need to
give more teeth to law to deal with these people. Apart from taking away the money swindled by them,
we should award imprisonment and physical punishments.

Table 1 ʹ Profile of the Six categories

As demons are more educated, prevention would work better than punishments. We should make our
systems transparent and fool-proof. Information Technology can play a key role in bringing about
transparency and accountability at all levels. For example, Unique Identification Number project is
expected to help improve the reach of social initiatives for the poor.

Human category is very much concerned with their public image. What others think of them is more
critical to these people than what they are. Fear of getting caught is a good enough deterrent for these
people. They tend to read the media exposure of scams and swindles.

Angels are self-made people and will not stoop down low levels under any circumstances. Our families,
educational institutions and work places should provide the right environment for shaping people into
angels.

Pseudo Humans currently stay clean due to lack of opportunities. Whether they will turn out to be
angels or demons depends on their morals and values. Our social and religious organizations should
continue to play a key role in keeping these people under check.

Pseudo humans can turn out to be animals or angels depending on how they react when faced with
opportunities to make money through immoral and illegal means. Once again religions can play a key
role in instilling the fear of God and educating the people on right and wrong.

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My own estimate of these categories of people is as follows:

Animals: 4%
Demons: 8%
Humans : 8%
Angels: 2 %
Pseudo Humans : 40%
Pseudo Angels : 40%
The detailed working of these percentages is shown in the Table 2.

Has Opportunity to Taste Forbidden Apples (20%)

Does not have the Opportunity
Not avail the opportunity
Avail the opportunity(10%) (80%)
(10%)

Not aware With full Jealous of others

Out of self
that it is knowledge that Out of Fear who enjoy Doesn͛t Care
determination
forbidden it is forbidden forbidden ones

Pseudo Humans Pseudo

Animals(4%) Demons(6%) Humans(8%) Angels(2%)
(40%) Angels(40%)

Table 2
Size of the Six categories
It is only people in positions of power who get the opportunities to misuse their position to swindle
money from the hapless public or curry favors from businessmen and traders. Though we can count
most government employees in this category, the proportion of private sector employees with such
opportunities are is much smaller. My estimate is that no more than 20% people can be said to have
opportunities for the so-called forbidden apple. Of these 20%, my estimate is that half of them end up
utilizing the opportunity while the remaining half stay away. Of those who avail this opportunity I have
put 4% in the animals category and 6% in the Demons category. 8% of the total people, who do not
avail this opportunity have been put under Humans and 2% in the Angels category.

Of the 80% of the people who do not have the opportunity, my assessment is that half of them are
pseudo humans and the remaining half are pseudo angels. The pseudo angels are usually found among
the poorest of the poor. These are very subjective estimates and will need to be validated through an
empirical study.

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The basic desire for forbidden apple cannot be gotten over even if hundreds of spiritual gurus like Christ
andBuddha as born in this world. We can only harness it and it will certainly show its ugly face from time
to time. The approaches to tackle the same will also have to change with changing times. Religions
played a key role in ensuring socially acceptable behavior by its citizens. With the erosion of credibility
of religions, we need to look for alternative ways. Family once played a key role in imparting the right
vales in children. Today͛s splintered and broken families are not adequately equipped to educate the
young minds about the right and the wrong. We basically need to give more teeth to law to make severe
punishments as deterrents to these acts of corrupt practices.

We can put our faith on the millennial kids. They can boycott products/services by companies that are
indulging in corrupt practices. They can become a major force to overthrow corrupt governments, as in
the case of Egypt. People are already feeling sick and tired of the news that gets generated around this
issue. Schools and colleges should play a key role in sensitizing the young people to the issues
concerning corruption and the loss it brings to the companies, Government and the Country as whole.
We have achieved certain amount of success in bringing about environmental sensitivity among the
young minds. The same can be done with regard to economic offenses. There is a ray of hope,
emanating from the young minds.

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