The Men in White

Yes, The Men in White. We have Men in Black, Men in Blue (The Indian cricket team) and other colored men. But, MiW, these men are different. They have connections, are powerful, rich. Almost everything. In short, these guys are living the Indian dream, if there is any. They are famous for their apparel, white shirt, pants and even shoes. They are everywhere around you. Their favorite cars are Toyota Innova and Toyota Fortuner. Although some prefer germans and brits too. They move in cars with idiotic red stripes on their plates, disregarding all the traffic rules. So, who are these people? Why am I writing about them? Because these guys control our lives. Not in a direct way, but essentially yes. They have political contacts, every decision is influenced by them. These people define lobbyists.

I’m writing this in utter annoyance and amusement. I was in restaurant this afternoon. Everything nice, peaceful. A huge Man in White (MiW) enters and sits adjacent to me. Two other flock towards him and another man comes after a while. The last man, I understood, was their client. All right, still I’m not quite interested in them. But in the next 30 minutes I’m drawn to their conversation. The MiW started speaking saying he has brought in profit of xxx crore rupees (I’ve not heard the number.) and he can deliver everything and anything. So, these ordinary looking two men echo him saying that ‘process’ will be easy and simple and that he(client) has to coordinate. 

Then the main topic starts, land. The MiW says “Any land, any government or private land, just tell me where and I’ll hand over the documents in two months”. Wow, did I just hear a private man talking about government land? Okay, next he says everything will be done but he needs to receive 75% of amount right now. He then goes on saying how many lands he has dealt. He then pointed out to other to saying “Ask them, they are the government employees. Ask them about me. All documents in your hand in just two months. But give me 75% of the amount”. Now this is strange. How can a non government, even a government employee hand out documents and take 75% amount? The MiW then says he does buildings too, any building, anywhere, permission will be given in a short time but again 75% amount has to be given. Then I’ve not heard what happened in next few moments. I guess the ‘client’ refused to give 75%, the MiW was furious and started almost shouting. The supposedly government employees chimed in saying 75% or nothing. If he gives in now, everything will be done is short time.


I left the place. I can’t waste my time for them. No, this is not fiction. I didn’t take there pic, or video because their talk just doesn’t have any substantial evidence of anything. But yes, on my way out I did see a white Toyota Fortuner with a red strip on plate saying nothing. If you want government land, consult these guys. Might be, they might get you the papers of Raisina hill too!

Srinivas Arcot

An eternal optimist with volatile cynicism.

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