On my way back from Pune to Kerala, I was sitting on the platform at Madgaon, waiting for my connecting train which was late by half an hour. Beside me was a young guy (let's call him X) impatiently looking at his watch every 2 minutes. A beggar came by asking for alms, he was waved away irately by X. Later, when it was announced that the train would take 30mins more to arrive, X pulled out a sandwich (looked like cheese) and started munching on it. Halfway through the sandwich a stray doggie with doleful eyes came and sat in front of him to whom he gave the rest. Then he (with a slightly self-satisfied faint smile) looked at the dog happily devouring the surprise meal.
I was forced to think about this. How often things like these happen, we shoo away or close our eyes to our (yes they qualify for 'our', they are our countrymen, aren't they?) people who really need help and commend ourselves on doing a 'good deed' which would come way down on the list of 'necessary' acts of kindness.
I give alms to beggars, most of them at least. When you give 2 bucks or 5 bucks to a beggar woman with a child in her arms, you help her with a meal, something so that she doesn't have to scavenge in a municipal dustbin when she’s hungry. How can a person who has to dig through a waste heap for his next meal have any sense of self-esteem left? How then will that person ever feel that he is capable of anything else other than scraping the bottom of a waste bin his entire life with no way out? When a 5 year old child sees his mother rummaging in a pile of rubbish for something to eat, don't you think he subconsciously resigns himself to the fact that he is going to do the same, that that’s all he’s worthy of?
So, all you (non-existent and totalling up to 0) people who read my blog, please think and see if you can spare a few bucks for the next needy-looking beggar who crosses your path....
2 comments:
Hmmm. The issue of begging is a tricky one. The truth remains that since we were kids we've seen beggars everywhere. They're a common occurrence, a common sight- something you expect to see at the traffic signal or sitting outside the most popular shopping areas. So, in a way when your mind is so conditioned to seeing them, when you're so used to their presence- they become more a part of the scenery. you learn to turn a blind eye to their predicament. A lot of instances you see of beggars being casually waved away are automatic reaction now. I don't think people do it with the thought that they dont want someone to get a proper meal-its instinct by now.
And then of course, there's the whole "business" behind begging. When I see a woman at the signal with a baby in her arms I don't automatically assume any money I give her will go to feed the kid- most often the kid isn't even her.
Before I get attacked for being a heartless human, I'm just giving you the other point of view. Philanthropy is awesome, but can you help every beggar you see? If you turn away the 10th one that comes up to you, are you a bad person for helping the first 9 and not this one...
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