Way back in 200 B.C., Kautilya meticulously described 40 different kinds of corruption in his Arthashastra. He has aptly commented: "Just as it is impossible not to taste honey or poison when it is at the tip of the tongue, so it is impossible for a government servant not to eat up a bit of revenue.

And just as it cannot be found out whether a fish swimming through water drinks or not so also government servants cannot be found out while taking money for themselves."

What exactly is corruption? Corruption is defined as moral depravity and influencing through bribery. Essentially, corruption is the abuse of trust in the interest of private gain.

And it can be divided into five broad types: transactive, extortive, defensive, investive and nepotistic. The transactive type refers to the mutual agreement between donor and recipient to the advantage of, and actively pursued by, both parties.

This normally involves business man and government. The extortive type is the kind where the donor is compelled to bribe in order to avoid harm being inflicted upon his person or his interest.

Defensive corruption is the behaviour of the victim of extortive corruption. His corruption is in self-defense. Investive corruption involves the offer of goods or services without any direct link to a particular favour but in anticipation of future occasions when the favour will be required. And nepotistic corruption, or nepotism, is the unjustified appointment of relatives or friends to public office, or according them favoured treatment, in pecuniary or other forms, violating the norms and the rules of the organisation.

The constituent elements of corruption are cheating and stealing. Where corruption takes the extortive form, it is stealing by force through compulsion of the victim. Where it concerns bribing a functionary, the latter is involved in theft. No society or culture condones stealing and cheating, actually all cultures condemn these activities.

Take India. As early as 1000 BC, the laws of Manu laid down those corrupt officials who accept bribes from the villagers are to be banished and have their property seized. Condemnation of bribery, of greed, of misappropriation of property has accompanied Hindu thought throughout the ages and yet corruption is deep-rooted in India today.

It is not difficult to locate the causes of corruption. Corruption breeds at the top and then gradually filters down to the lower levels. Gone are the days when people who joined politics were imbued with the spirit of serving the nation. Those who plunged themselves into the fight for freedom knew that there were only sacrifices to be made, no return was expected.

So only the selfless people came forward. But the modern politicians are of entirely different mould. They are not motivated by any lofty ideals. They win elections at a huge personal cost and then try to make the best of the opportunity they get. Powerful business magnates who are forced to give huge donations to political parties indulge in corrupt practices not only to make up their losses but also to consolidate their gains.