Warning – this is a rant post.
Now, you may have heard of Gandhigiri (made famous by the Munna Bhai movie – following in the steps of Mahatma Gandhi), but what you might ask is Chindigiri. ‘Chindi’ is a very Hyderabadi term, and has various meanings, depending on the context. But, I use this word more often in one particular context, in which it means cheapstake’ism’ or being a penny pincher.

The reason I broached this subject is because of my recent experiences as an insurance agent. I got a friend of mine to post an ad in their bulletin board in response which I kept getting some phone calls. A majority of these callers have asked me if I’ll give them a rebate in the commission that they’ll pay. Now, are these people so poor? Or, would they pay a part of their salary back to the company – because the company gave them a job? I don’t think so. The only reason I can think of, to explain this is that they are ‘chindi’. BTW, I have neither asked for a rebate when I took insurance, nor will I be giving anybody a rebate. Not only is it unethical, it is illegal too. When literate (not the same as educated), well to do people are eager to indulge in corruption, I wonder why these same people keep blaming India for it’s ills.

BTW, I see ‘chindigiri’ in many places – people wanting to gain every single inch of available space when everybody is standing at a traffic signal, but will still drive at 30kmph on a completely empty road. Oh and our former neighbours – with whom we shared our electricity meter, who were so lazy that they would never pay the bill on time -(even when we offered to pay and then share the charges with them), and when leaving the house got us to pay all the fines too.

“Corruption is in the mind, it only shows up as an act.”
– Me

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