Thanksgiving.

Today is the famous 'black friday'. The day of 'after thanksgiving sales'. This marks the begining of India-trip season here in US of A. Ppl will shop till their credit card gives up and they run outta deals (rebates) and pack buncha things for home. One obvious question then is, how much worth of Rs. can one take to India, without having to pay a dime (paisa, I shud say) in custom duty?

There is enuf information available on net, (not very easily availble though... it leaves me puzzled why the government of the country of 'brains' behind all the softwares does not have good websites for its offices? Hopefully, end of Lalu raaj will help things to improve, but I wont be surprized if they dont.)

So, the most common answer ppl come up with is, "have a $20 bill ready in ur pocket. Just show it to the person at customs check and you dont have to pay anything."
"Why should I bribe to get my stuff into my country?", some dare to ask.
"You can never get in without trouble if you dont do this. Its kinda their 'right'. You should not deprive them of their share. You are just saying 'thanks' to them." comes as an answer, fully soaked in the thanksgiving spirit.

I pity those who think this way. I would not mind parting away with $20 as much as I hate ppl who advise this. I mean, if you dont even think its unappropriate to do such thing, how can you even think of denying such demand? You have lost the battle long before it starts. A lost mind can never rebel against anything. Atleat try to put up some resistance... don't just give up even before the war has been declared.

Now, the customwala's are also very clever. They'll know how to get upper hand in such dealings. The person at the scanning area at customs will ask for your passport. He wont even turn a single page of the document, will just put it at a 'safe' place. And will say,"इतनी chocolates (or anything that his eyes catch on the x-ray machine) लायें हो. Allowed नही हैं. साऽब को बताना पडेगा". You will be like,"What?? for Chocolates?" "हां भई, तगडा duty पडेगा."
You are already eager to meet your loved ones, waiting in the reception area... after buying Rs. 50/- ticket for coming in to the 'sacred' barricades. And now your passport is at 'the safe' place.
These ppl know you would not like to get into more arguments. "चाहियें तो सस्तेमें हो जायेंगा आपका काम. बोलो कितना दोगें?"
This is the critical test of your attitude now. You say, "क्या साऽब, student लोग हैं हम..." and you loose the battle. The slightest sign of you showing any accomodation for this kind of behaviour will result in the $20 bill swapping its rightful place. And trust me, these ppl are mind-reader. Their skill at interpreting your body language will leave the HR team of any big recruting agency amazed. Now even though you never intended to bribe, you'll end up doing it.
But I'll always regret loosing this battle last season. And I promise my passport that I wont ever let it be at the 'safe' place again...