The picture of a typical Government office or can I say prison cell like structures that serve as an office with grimy walls, red stained spittoons in the staircase landings and nearly broken rooftops come to mind very easily.

We all have had the experience of waiting in long, never ending queues sometime in the past to acquire our driving license or procure a passport, pay our bills, or sometimes even claim the corpses of our near and dear ones who are martyrs of our motherland.

India has opportunities galore for the unemployed. Whoever said that that unemployment rates are on the rise? Thanks to the bureaucracy that prevails in the 'Indian Government System' which has helped open many avenues for making the fast buck and of course employment openings for the odd college drop-out or the regular town bum. But, "Just how?", you may ask!

The 'business of the broker' is perhaps the most enviable one. I do not mean those legal real estate brokers or those share agents. I mean those efficient; smart unofficial brokers who take up any job for a small (not all that small too) fee, and more importantly who work within timeframes. They can commit the date of completion of your task more accurately than the people responsible for the task. I guess, they are super-humans.

A friend had once said that potatoes and cockroaches are two things you can find anywhere in India. I feel like adding a third item - our indispensable broker. How could one survive without them?

These gentlemen are of such a helpful nature. They forget all about agonies of life and walk up to you. At this moment it is only your task that seems to be their aim in life. Such dedicated service levels! Our Services Industry/Departments need to learn this art. Yes, these guys do charge some fee. But, is it not worth it, if things can happen for you without standing in those queues? Your task gets accomplished even before the other peoples' who have been standing in these queues for the past few years. You also would be one among them, but for the demi-gods.

No more do we have to waste a day or two to do these odd jobs. We can have a gala time at the cinema halls, while these guys toil for us. We do not have to run from pillar to post to get one single document signed. We do not have to be at the mercy of these laid-back Government officials to get our work done. We do not have to hear lame excuses or even face the wrath of the odd short-tempered clerk at the RTO or at the Passport Office or at the Telephone Exchange Department.

Not only are the services so efficient, you even have your requirements delivered at your doorstep! Such kind of services would put any Marketing/PR company to shame. You realize that so many people engage themselves in these kinds of jobs and earn their bread and butter. They feed their families and earn enough to speed past you in a luxurious Lancer or a Baleno, while you are kick-starting your scooter at the signal. What an interesting way of earning a living! It requires no educational qualifications or work experience. All you need is to be street-smart, that's it!

These levels of efficiency and effectiveness could be used in more constructive ways. Why are the good things of others not envied and imbibed by the others? I guess our bureaucracy should be made apprentice to this efficient bunch of people. I am sure the people are going to benefit out of this change. Why can the Government not consider our suggestion?

The Government system stinks of bureaucracy, which results in open bribery. The public has lost its patience over the lackadaisical attitude of these Government servants. The impatient ones, or the affluent ones do not mind paying the priice for these value-added services. Even they do have a guilty feeling, but 'convenience' is something after all. It is an irony that the others do suffer, as doing their job is no more lucrative to the officers.

Can we do something about this???

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