The Muslim bribes

My father was an honorary judge in our subdivision. He was a great judge. Although he had many, many Muslim friends, he would never take anything from Muslims because he was an orthodox Hindu.

The night before he was to preside over any serious dispute between Hindus and Muslims, very often the Muslims would secretly bring some buffalo milk and Indian sweets and leave them at our door. Our family drank cow's milk, but my father also liked buffalo milk. So the Muslims would bring him a very large quantity of buffalo milk and also many Indian sweets.

My father would not know who had brought the milk and sweets, but he would never accept bribes, and certainly he would never accept anything from Muslims. He would say, "Who has done me this favour? Take away the sweets and buffalo milk!" My father would not allow anyone in the family to touch the milk and sweets.

The next day in court, the first thing he would say was, "Tell me the truth. Who has put buffalo milk and sweets at my door?" Of course, nobody would confess. Then he would decide according to the merits of the case.