Almost one-third of us Indians are "utterly corrupt" and half are "borderline", according to Pratyush Sinha, who retired last week as central vigilance commissioner (CVC). He blames the rising corruption on the rise of wealth and materialistic lifestyle.

"When we were growing up I remember if somebody was corrupt, they were generally looked down upon. There was at least some social stigma attached to it. That is gone. So there is greater social acceptance," he told the Mint newspaper in an interview last week.

These highly debatable comments are from the man who headed the country’s top corruption watchdog, however toothless it may be.  Are we Indians so corrupt that every third one among us is ready to take bribes, or is the phenomenon restricted to a few who have the power to deliver after accepting the bribe?

If, for India as a whole, corruption is so rampant that it has become “palpable”, it ranks 84th on a global ranking and financial scandals have become routine news items here, is the nation doing enough to battle the menace or are we ignoring a festering problem?