Every day while going to and coming back from my graphic designing classes, I see beggars lining the walls of Jamia Millia University. Some disabled, some painfully old and sick and some assisted by their younger, a bit more able counterparts. No unique sight in Delhi that is, but it is really something very disturbing, or at least, it perturbs me a lot.
The sight of those beggars sitting along the roads in my neighbourhood forces me to stop and think. India has witnessed a rapid economic growth and has come a long way in terms of industrial and economic development, but a sizeable population has been left far behind. The poverty in the rural areas and the misery of the labour classes in the urban areas is unimaginable. The number of slum dwellers and beggars in the capital is enormous. I don’t really understand politics and the governance system much and neither do I sit and watch or read about the parliament sessions and the issues fought over, or I could well be dubbed as a politically ignorant person but then, that doesn’t stop me from pondering over this.
So, one evening while returning from the institute, I got down from the auto rickshaw in front of the Jamia Millia University campus and stopped to talk to one of the beggars sitting there. I had been particularly observing an old, terribly frail and visibly sick beggar who would sit near the campus walls or would stand at a specific spot. I don’t know what made me pick up that particular man for a talk, the word “man” sounds much better and human than “beggar,” right??
Anyways, I went up to him, handed him a 10-rupee note (just to start up the conversation, else he would have got startled on seeing a girl approaching him for a talk) and hesitatingly asked him what made him beg and why he was found there day and night. He gave me a confused look (my question certainly deserved that look, after all, who asks a beggar why he begs) but then after much prodding, he opened up. He told me that he had a son and two daughters, all of who were married, and none of them could afford to keep him in their homes and feed him, so, he had to beg to survive and, ironically, he begged for a survival on the streets.
I got all answers why that beggar actually had to be a beggar. I now know why he is found there begging in the sun and the rain, during day and night. I now understand his misery and helplessness. And now, I will never have the courage to shoo away a beggar. I handed him another 10-rupee note and moved on. But, I carried with me some questions unanswered.
Why anybody has to beg?
Why aren’t there some proper measures taken by the government to abolish beggary?
And, above all, why can’t we as humans be compassionate enough to care for and look after the old, disabled and less fortunate members of our family and society.
Often, beggary has been termed as an easy way out for earning money and it might as well be the case for many but the fact remains that it might be the only way for survival for several. Because several of them cannot work and earn because of their disabilities, age or sickness have no way left than to beg.
It’s time we give it a thought. Forget trying to change the entire country and revolutionise things. Forget the blame game and criticising the government for the dismal living conditions of the poor. We can do our bit, starting right from our family, neighbourhood and society. Our little efforts could make big differences to somebody’s life.
It just requires us to be a bit more sympathetic and humane. Not very difficult it is or is it?
Note: Image used in this article is only for representational purpose.
