Baksheesh
Baksheesh (from Persian: بخشش bakhshesh[1]) is a term used to describe tipping, charitable giving, and certain forms of political corruption and bribery in the Middle East and South Asia. Leo Deuel sardonically described baksheesh as "lavish remuneration and bribes, rudely demanded but ever so graciously accepted by the natives in return for little or no services rendered."[2]
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[edit] Origins
Baksheesh is a Persian word, written بخشش (bakhshesh) and originating from the Pahlavi (Middle Iranian) language.[3]
[edit] Types of baksheesh
- Tipping. This does not correlate with the European system of tipping, as it also includes demonstrations of gratitude, respect or veneration. An offering to the gods may be considered baksheesh. A faqir may also ask for baksheesh but there is no thought in his mind that he is begging. In fact, in Pakistan and the Muslim world the giver of alms often salutes the beggar for having been given the opportunity to gain merit. In Egypt, baksheesh is often requested on top of fares to taxi drivers, and as service charges to waiters, doormen, shopkeepers, garage attendants, and many others employed in service sector jobs.
- Outright bribery. For instance, a police officer may be swayed from arresting someone by a suitable bribe.
[edit] European usage
The word had also moved westward. In Albanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Macedonian, and Turkish language, bakshish or бакшиш means "tip" in the conventional western sense. In Greek, μπαξίσι (baksisi) can mean a gift in general. In German and French, Bakschisch is used to describe a small bribe.
When American mythologist Joseph Campbell travelled on his maiden visit to India in 1954, he encountered pervasive begging which he termed the "Baksheesh Complex". [5]
Mark Twain, after riding through the Biblical town of Magdala in 1867, makes note of his encounter with beggars and the term "bucksheesh" in his published work The Innocents Abroad. "They hung to the horses' tails, clung to their manes and the stirrups, closed in on every side in scorn of dangerous hoofs—and out of their infidel throats, with one accord, burst an agonizing and most infernal chorus: 'Howajji, bucksheesh! howajji, bucksheesh! howajji, bucksheesh! bucksheesh! bucksheesh!' I never was in a storm like that before."
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=+baksheesh&searchmode=none
- ^ Testaments of Time; the Search for Lost Manuscripts and Records, New York (1966), p. 367.
- ^ Dehkhoda dictionary.
- ^ Mark McCrum. Going Dutch in Beijing: How to Behave Properly When Far Away from Home. Macmillan, 2008. ISBN 0805086765, 9780805086768/ Pg 104
- ^ Campbell, Joseph (2002). Robin Larsen, Stephen Larsen, Antony Van Couvering. ed. Baksheesh and Brahman: Asian Journals - India. New World Library. pp. xvii. ISBN 1577312376. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=VySPqLx1DucC&pg=PP1&dq=Brahma+and+Baksheesh&cd=1#v=onepage&q=Brahma%20and%20Baksheesh&f=false.
