I am from Kolkata, supposedly a metro, but when it comes to bribing they are the first ones to ask for it. Today I had an officer come over for police verification of my passport. In spite of reproducing all the required documents, in the end I was asked for a bribe from the officer himself. I was said the going rate is Rs. 500. When I firstly refused saying I was a student and could not afford such amount, he said,"If you cant afford that much how will a poor village person pay up". This confirms that the practice doesn't spare even the poor, who are even more helpless. Then it dawned upon me that in some days he will be coming again to verify my mother's application and if I did not pay up both our applications could be held up. Since I need mine urgently, and in fear that both our applications could be delayed, I coughed up Rs. 250. But since my mother's in not that urgent I am not going to give him a single penny the next time he shows up. I think that we all should put a stop to these practices because this only proves to cause a greater problem for those financially insufficient.