I
may not guarantee you of anything in this life but one thing I can assure you
that the day you arrive Hyderabad, the first person(s) you will have encounter with
in this metro city are beggar. Your explosive expression will be OMG!!! What
the hell are you?
Don’t
believe me!
Okay..let
me give the top five ways of exclusive and popular begging styles here:
11> Bare body
children:
Small children are always subject of unbridled attention and love. But here,
the love and sympathy has a price. The more torn and sympathetic you look the
more you earn on roadside. Small girl, age between 1-7 years and boys, age
between 1-5 years are paired and seated on the turns, with their cloth folded
down till waist (even girl’s frock which falls to her knees is revealed from
top) They are taught the simplest way to earn by spreading their hands and
throwing a forlorn look at everyone that crosses them. One rupee, two rupee,
people keep throwing at them. The funniest moment was that once a young girl
stopped next to them, studied for a while, took their necessity to mind and
taking a handful of candies from bag gave to them. It was really ridiculous to
see the response to the young girl’s action. They were startled of given
candies, not money as they didn’t know it was possible to get anything else
than money in alms.
 |
| Google Image |
22> Small babies
with Mother: Next to boy and girl pair, the pair that rocks in every season is
of mother and baby. Yeah!! Even rock will liquefy seeing a small baby, who will
be constantly crying and nagging for milk, cradled strangely and oddly by their
mother and begging on the road, going to each every person standing around.
Even if you are standing and talking in a group, they will just barge to you. A
withered feeling rise inside me whenever I see them. And even I get softened
seeing the babies. Who won’t??? But I control myself and deny straight on their
face. In return sometimes I get answered back with some under-breath curses or
even daunting glares. I just ignore them all total.
33> Religious
Fakirs and babas: Wear a green or orange dress, put big tilaks of ashes on
forehead, get a grail like some container and peacock feather broom is optional
and become a so claimed fakir or baba or pandit. I find them most
annoying. As if selling God and Religion in temples and mosques weren’t enough,
now people got onto road to sell it. May be the margin of selling on road is
higher and easier to gain. Now don’t rubbish me with those mythological stories
of social gradation where Brahmins were supposed to beg and live. I
don’t know who started it and why and what good-impact it had on society. But
now it’s eating up the whole society like bug. Stop selling religion. We are
wise enough not to buy it from you!! Aren’t we buddies?
44> Blessed with
disability: The people with disabilities are somehow given this as a
privilege stapled with their birth rights. If you don’t have an
eye/ear/nose/hand/leg or any body part, then you are free to beg. Just go, roam
around, scare people with your abrupt twisted appearance and loot money. Isn’t
it fantastic?
55> Lie nude: (Last but
worst!)Around ten days back, on my way to bus-stop I was suddenly jerked seeing
the dreaded scenario spread before me. It took some time gain to mobility again
seeing the naked old man lying there on the roadside, trembling as the thin sheet
under him was of no work compared to the coldness of road. Only loincloth was
on his body and he was totally coiled like snail-head around himself. His hair
were flowingly white under the big bald on crown and long beard swept over
dirt. An old lady, probably his wife sat next to him, her hands sprawled out
and shaking in gesture of begging. It’s the cruelest and most dismal way of
begging I have come across till now. Believe me or not, for this reason of
disbelief I want to take a picture of them and display here but I was afraid my
whole blog may get shut down for displaying such nasty pictures.
Some people may have the feeling that Damn! This girl has no
heart. I understand your emotions well and I have a heart too, a very very
soft heart that I keep hiding from everyone but my ethics don’t allow me to
support all these nuisances. If begging were just a compulsion, then there
wouldn’t be so many beggars roaming on each turn and square. I have my sympathy
who are unable to earn their livelihood and are forced to begging (thanks to
our never-gonna-work Government plans! Sucking out blood from all!). I also
understand the inability of dejected old, sickened people who can’t push
themselves to work. But is it true for all the beggars we pass? Even for the
small child whose future hasn’t even started?
When it was to their parents, they casually and uninterestingly
answered, what will they do by studying? If got into begging from an early
stage, one day they will become professionals here. After studying they will
start hating the job and our income will be gone.
I just wowed at this answer. It just felt like the questioner was
wrong and the parents were correct. But if evil things are talked about
then why the good things would be left behind. Despite this poignant rate of
begging, I was marveled at some instants where almost tear of pride and joy
flooded into eyes.
There was this instant, in Abids area, I saw a very old and
fragile man organizing things on a wheel cart. His cheeks were sucked in, lips droopily
snapped with each other in absence of teeth and crowfeet claimed all over his
face. His wife(probably!) was standing next to him emptying some packets. They
were gathering things for selling Bhelpuri. I was so happy, finally
seeing someone working so late at their life. It must undoubtedly difficult for
them to stand so long and work there. But the spirit I drew from their hardwork
will always be valuable.
Another instance that made me laugh is that, on the main road from
Maitrivihar junction to Big Bazaar junction, a 10 year old boy was selling trinkets
in footpath. Ladies were gathered around him, matching the jewelry with their clothes, selecting from the wide
range of collection and happy of getting it on their bargained price. And a
legless man was lying totally on the bare ground, with a broken plastic mug and
begging others rolling on road. He looked so disgusting that it made me puke.
Not because he didn’t have legs, but because his cheap way of begging. I guess
he was blind too as he couldn’t see that such small boy next to him was making
money with pride and ease. But this wasn’t only one. I also saw next to him was
a small shop where a middle aged man was selling magazines and newspapers and
his legs were skimpy as cursed with Polio. He could have lied on ground,
begging at every by-passer’s feet. But he chose the way of dignity. I feel
proud of both of them.
The examples were rare but not powerless. Every example glowed
with pride and independence and I bow before the people with respect for
choosing the difficult but dignified way instead of such wormlike life. I
salute your choice and courage for it!! The whole nation salutes you for your
inspiration!! Keep working and keep inspiring us.
