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I Refused to Bribe
The protagonist Jitesh is an honest banker who refuses to sanction a business loan to an industrialist, Satish, whose factory is running at a loss. When Satish offers a bribe to Jitesh, the latter abuses the industrialist and threatens to call the police.
Undeterred by all this, Satish approaches Arora who is Jitesh’s senior officer and offers him a share in his business. Arora puts pressure on Jitesh to ignore certain norms and stipulations and approve the loan, but Jitesh succumbs neither to greed nor pressure. Arora and Satish turn hostile towards Jitesh.
A few days later at the bank, Jitesh helps an unknown customer, who claims to be illiterate, to fill his withdrawal form. The customer is later identified as a conman who fraudulently withdraws money from someone else’s account. His arch rival Arora manipulates facts and Jitesh is named in the chargesheet. Jitesh is suspended from his job and faces a judicial inquiry that lasts for 14 long and painful years.
During the long ordeal, Jitesh is flooded with offers to bribe his way out of the matter and this includes vigilance officers, bank officials, CID officers, court clerks and even the judge.
Arora connives with businessmen and amasses huge wealth through underhand means. Arora ignores his family and takes to the wrong path in personal life also. What has destiny in store for him? Is he able to escape from the clutches of justice?
Undeterred by all this, Satish approaches Arora who is Jitesh’s senior officer and offers him a share in his business. Arora puts pressure on Jitesh to ignore certain norms and stipulations and approve the loan, but Jitesh succumbs neither to greed nor pressure. Arora and Satish turn hostile towards Jitesh.
A few days later at the bank, Jitesh helps an unknown customer, who claims to be illiterate, to fill his withdrawal form. The customer is later identified as a conman who fraudulently withdraws money from someone else’s account. His arch rival Arora manipulates facts and Jitesh is named in the chargesheet. Jitesh is suspended from his job and faces a judicial inquiry that lasts for 14 long and painful years.
During the long ordeal, Jitesh is flooded with offers to bribe his way out of the matter and this includes vigilance officers, bank officials, CID officers, court clerks and even the judge.
Arora connives with businessmen and amasses huge wealth through underhand means. Arora ignores his family and takes to the wrong path in personal life also. What has destiny in store for him? Is he able to escape from the clutches of justice?
- GenresFiction
320 pages, Paperback
Published August 14, 2013
5 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 6, 2015
Story of a common man narrated in manner that any common man can relate to it. The language is simple and the events, though running across a few decades, can happen in anyone's life. What is remarkable is the never-say-die spirit of the chief protagonist and the support that he gets from his family.The author does not spare anyone, the bureaucracy, the politician and even the judiciary.
May 18, 2017
In today’s era everyone gives bribe. The teenagers, youngsters and old ones everyone has given bribe at some point of their life so as to get their work completed. I think only a few of the population in India has not given a handshake with the thought of giving bribe. The book holds the story of man with similar thoughts named Jitesh Kumar who works at State bank of India. So many ups and downs come in protagonist’s (Jitesh) life but still he does not opt to give bribe and believes in completing his deeds honestly and refuses to bribe. The thick book comprises a lot more to discover.
Read Full Here : http://wordcurdwriteups.blogspot.in/2...
Read Full Here : http://wordcurdwriteups.blogspot.in/2...
October 7, 2013
It happens rarely when you read a book, you get so attached with the characters & story that you start feeling their pain, happiness & glory as your own.
It is a MUST read considering the relevance of topic in today's era.
It strengthens your believe in being honest & truthful in spite of extremely adverse situation.
It is a MUST read considering the relevance of topic in today's era.
It strengthens your believe in being honest & truthful in spite of extremely adverse situation.
January 13, 2015
Very nice story... Taught the real struggles!
July 15, 2014
Disgusting it is that always an honest man has to face hurdles in life while a dishonest man gets away with everything. This is no more a secret that corruption is rooted in our system but then who gives a damn to it? Many, instead of getting inspired by our great leaders; choose of walk on the path of corrupt people. And this creates a problem, a major problem. There’s not a single place today which is free from corruption. Earlier government sectors were known for corrupt people but now there is an open corruption even in the private sector. But, being the citizens of India isn’t it our duty to eradicate this social evil from our land?
I just finished reading I Refused to Bribe and it has seriously won my heart. Consisting foreword written by Dr Kumar Vishwas this book gets a very inspiring story, at such a time when corruption is present in our atmosphere.
Pannu a teenager bribes an agent and gets his driving licence ready without any hazards. He proudly announces this thing to his uncle and aunty. Feeling bad for what their nephew did, Pannu’s uncle aunty narrate a story of a honest clerk and his journey. This story that begins in 2012 takes us back to mid 90’s
Jitesh, the protagonist of the story hails from a poor family. Following the principles laid down by revolutionary leaders, Jitesh is strictly against bribe and corruption. After having completed his matriculate exams, Jitesh is married of to a girl from a well-to-do family. Despite knowing that his job of a postman earns him Rs. 30 per month, Jitesh’s father borrows heavy amount from the moneylender for Jitesh’s marriage.
Jitesh’s mother wants her son to be an officer and hence motivates him to appear for exams. He luckily gets selected at the State Bank of India. His friend and a fellow colleague sends a person Satish to him for a loan. Considering Satish’s business losses and previous borrowings, Jitesh denies approval of loan.
Widely known for his honesty among his colleagues and bank officials, Jitesh is arrested one day. His name appears in a fraud case, even when Jitesh does nothing. He gets suspended and a departmental inquiry is initiated against him. During this phase, Jitesh gets offers for bribing and clearing his name. But instead he determinedly chooses to walk on the path of honesty. But the way Jitesh gets himself out of this mess, that too avoiding dishonesty at any stage, is what you need to find out from the book.
The book seriously forwards an inspiring story which I consider is the need of the hour. The story revolves around the early post-independence period. It gives an insight about those days and beliefs of people; rituals that they used to follow, the police’ style of functioning, etc. It reminds me of a quote that a building constructed on the bricks of corruption has to fall sometime or the other.
Over-all: The cover page of the book showcases a man standing alone. Perhaps it portrays Jitesh – the man with high morals. The cover page, in a sense, is not that attractive but then I would call it a suitable one. The title of the book is good enough. Commenting on the narration style of the author, I would say it is brilliant. With every finishing page, the story developed a desire in me to know further happenings. The dialogues and plots in the story are comprehensible enough.
However, the characters and their names tend to create a sort of confusion. And yes there are a few grammatical errors in the book. But then the story possesses strength to overpower the grammatical errors. Hence, this 317 pages book will surely give you a nice read.
Recommending this book to my readers, I would rate it with 4/5. Congratulations to the author and hope he comes up with more such interesting books.
I just finished reading I Refused to Bribe and it has seriously won my heart. Consisting foreword written by Dr Kumar Vishwas this book gets a very inspiring story, at such a time when corruption is present in our atmosphere.
Pannu a teenager bribes an agent and gets his driving licence ready without any hazards. He proudly announces this thing to his uncle and aunty. Feeling bad for what their nephew did, Pannu’s uncle aunty narrate a story of a honest clerk and his journey. This story that begins in 2012 takes us back to mid 90’s
Jitesh, the protagonist of the story hails from a poor family. Following the principles laid down by revolutionary leaders, Jitesh is strictly against bribe and corruption. After having completed his matriculate exams, Jitesh is married of to a girl from a well-to-do family. Despite knowing that his job of a postman earns him Rs. 30 per month, Jitesh’s father borrows heavy amount from the moneylender for Jitesh’s marriage.
Jitesh’s mother wants her son to be an officer and hence motivates him to appear for exams. He luckily gets selected at the State Bank of India. His friend and a fellow colleague sends a person Satish to him for a loan. Considering Satish’s business losses and previous borrowings, Jitesh denies approval of loan.
Widely known for his honesty among his colleagues and bank officials, Jitesh is arrested one day. His name appears in a fraud case, even when Jitesh does nothing. He gets suspended and a departmental inquiry is initiated against him. During this phase, Jitesh gets offers for bribing and clearing his name. But instead he determinedly chooses to walk on the path of honesty. But the way Jitesh gets himself out of this mess, that too avoiding dishonesty at any stage, is what you need to find out from the book.
The book seriously forwards an inspiring story which I consider is the need of the hour. The story revolves around the early post-independence period. It gives an insight about those days and beliefs of people; rituals that they used to follow, the police’ style of functioning, etc. It reminds me of a quote that a building constructed on the bricks of corruption has to fall sometime or the other.
Over-all: The cover page of the book showcases a man standing alone. Perhaps it portrays Jitesh – the man with high morals. The cover page, in a sense, is not that attractive but then I would call it a suitable one. The title of the book is good enough. Commenting on the narration style of the author, I would say it is brilliant. With every finishing page, the story developed a desire in me to know further happenings. The dialogues and plots in the story are comprehensible enough.
However, the characters and their names tend to create a sort of confusion. And yes there are a few grammatical errors in the book. But then the story possesses strength to overpower the grammatical errors. Hence, this 317 pages book will surely give you a nice read.
Recommending this book to my readers, I would rate it with 4/5. Congratulations to the author and hope he comes up with more such interesting books.
June 22, 2015
Jitesh, a senior bank clerk, rejects a business loan to an influential industrialist, Satish. The latter seeks intervention from a senior bank officer named Arora who conspires to get Jitesh removed. A few days later at the bank, Jitesh helps an unknown customer, who claims to be illiterate, to fill his withdrawal form. The customer is later identified as a conman who fraudulently withdraws money from someone else’s account. Arora manipulates the situation and on charges of abetting a crime, Jitesh is named in the chargsheet.
Jitesh is suspended and faces a judicial inquiry which lasts for 14 long and painful years. At every step he gets the opportunity to pay a bribe and get reprieve, but he adamantly refuses to give a bribe. His plea for innocence falls on deaf ears of vigilance officers, bank officials, CID officers, court clerks and even the judge. Does Jitesh succeed to overcome adversity and his adversaries or does he succumb to all kinds of pressures?
Author makes a brave effort in portraying corruption across generations starting from 1950. Sharma nicely builds up the characters including Jitesh's parents, his wife and children. He provides a back up human story to even the wrong ones - namely Arora and Satish. Even though it fails to portray bribery in today's world as the story ends in early 90s, it does ring a bell how tough it can be for an honest man to survive the clutches of dishonest men all around him?
The biggest problem of the book is its daunting length of 300 odd pages which is way too much for paper thin material like this. The narrative is ultimately saved by author's attention to detail. From the banks hierarchy to the changing social norms across decades to the changing economic preferences of children, author makes a valiant effort to showcase the pain of the central protagonist.
I am going with 3/5 for Gireesh Sharma's 'I refuse to bribe'. It has sincere intentions and a competent writing style. I wish it was much shorter to make a better impact on the readers. In its current form, it's a one time read for any one who feels strongly about bribery and corruption in India.
Jitesh is suspended and faces a judicial inquiry which lasts for 14 long and painful years. At every step he gets the opportunity to pay a bribe and get reprieve, but he adamantly refuses to give a bribe. His plea for innocence falls on deaf ears of vigilance officers, bank officials, CID officers, court clerks and even the judge. Does Jitesh succeed to overcome adversity and his adversaries or does he succumb to all kinds of pressures?
Author makes a brave effort in portraying corruption across generations starting from 1950. Sharma nicely builds up the characters including Jitesh's parents, his wife and children. He provides a back up human story to even the wrong ones - namely Arora and Satish. Even though it fails to portray bribery in today's world as the story ends in early 90s, it does ring a bell how tough it can be for an honest man to survive the clutches of dishonest men all around him?
The biggest problem of the book is its daunting length of 300 odd pages which is way too much for paper thin material like this. The narrative is ultimately saved by author's attention to detail. From the banks hierarchy to the changing social norms across decades to the changing economic preferences of children, author makes a valiant effort to showcase the pain of the central protagonist.
I am going with 3/5 for Gireesh Sharma's 'I refuse to bribe'. It has sincere intentions and a competent writing style. I wish it was much shorter to make a better impact on the readers. In its current form, it's a one time read for any one who feels strongly about bribery and corruption in India.
May 4, 2015
From the present we can, to an extent, extrapolate past. I have imagined post-independent India to struggle with hunger, poverty but undoubtedly have pride and sense of freedom. This book gave a new perspective in bringing out the corrupt practices setting roots in India.
What I liked most in the book is the description of activities of the banker (protagonist in the novel) and his struggle during hardships in life. Also, the plot was never forced and there was easy flow. Occasionally, the happening in India like Indira Gandhi's oust from PM post added additional interest.
The conversations appeared to be cliched when our banker talks. We know protagonist will not bribe but till end that was repeated to a point that it was faintly annoying.
Read it if you like to know how India was back then between 1950-1980 period and how corrupt practices has seeped its way into Indian governance.
What I liked most in the book is the description of activities of the banker (protagonist in the novel) and his struggle during hardships in life. Also, the plot was never forced and there was easy flow. Occasionally, the happening in India like Indira Gandhi's oust from PM post added additional interest.
The conversations appeared to be cliched when our banker talks. We know protagonist will not bribe but till end that was repeated to a point that it was faintly annoying.
Read it if you like to know how India was back then between 1950-1980 period and how corrupt practices has seeped its way into Indian governance.
October 10, 2013
Full review of the book 'I refused to Bribe' on BookGeeks.
Have you ever given a bribe, no matter however small? I have; to cops, to municipal clerks, to revenue officials, and many more. I know it is wrong, in fact a sin, but I have committed it. Bribery is so deeply rooted in our society and its functioning that it has become imperative to grease palms to get a work done. But not everyone is like that. There are people who have faith in the system; they will fight the system but not commit the sin of bribery. ‘I Refused to Bribe’ is the story of one such morally upright man, Jitesh Kumar.
Have you ever given a bribe, no matter however small? I have; to cops, to municipal clerks, to revenue officials, and many more. I know it is wrong, in fact a sin, but I have committed it. Bribery is so deeply rooted in our society and its functioning that it has become imperative to grease palms to get a work done. But not everyone is like that. There are people who have faith in the system; they will fight the system but not commit the sin of bribery. ‘I Refused to Bribe’ is the story of one such morally upright man, Jitesh Kumar.
January 3, 2014
A nice story but marred by poor editing in some places. Author has done a great job of inspiring people to stand against corruption through the medium of an interesting novel. I strongly feel the youth of India should read this book and pledge to fight against the demon of corruption
September 15, 2014
Plot runs slow , though the moral is very bright . Much to a reader's delight , the protagonist after going through a miserable n unfair phase , finally gets justice .
July 9, 2015
The book gives a good overview of the system in India with a message that honesty ultimately pays
September 8, 2015
A good read. I found the pace of narration to be a little slow though.
February 6, 2020
Good story line and motivating. Felt very close at times. A very good social message. Never wanted to keep the book down once started.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews