If what the Army Chief told The Hindu recently — Tejinder Singh offering a bribe of Rs 14 crore — is true, (and on the face of it, there is no reason why it shouldn't be so) one can only say that corruption in India has become truly endemic. In a state of disbelief, General Singh told his interviewer: “Just imagine, one of these men had the gumption (what he meant was courage) to walk up to me and tell me that if I cleared the tranche (of 600 substandard vehicles of a particular make), he would give me Rs 14 crore. He was offering a bribe to me, to the Army Chief.” Importantly, the General added: “He told me that people had taken money before me, and they will take money after me.”