Last month we planned a trip to Agra with this Dutch friend of ours and what
I saw after we came out from Red fort was quite astounding. Bunch of guys were
pleading to our Dutch friend to buy something from them even if he was not
interested and none of them were
approaching us to sell their items. There were some beggars as well who
just didn’t want to go away from the sight even after making them realize that
he is with us. Finally our friend had to give in and bought a couple of items
from one of them. But it does not stop here, as he buys memorabilia from the
guy, fellow sellers barged into the car and started pretending that they are
selling the items in much lowers prices than they usually sell to other ‘foreign’
travelers. Now one thing was quite amusing to me was their accent. They were
speaking in rather much better accent and were directing to him only and none
of them cared that we were also there. Now this tells that money can make you
do anything, yeah anything. This is just a small example.
Now, that just got me thinking, how does a foreigner
attracts more sellers than fellow Indians who understand the language better? May
be he is a better customer, may be they can fool them? They start a 50 rs item
in whopping price of roughly 1500 and then the buyer tries to half it thinking
he is clever. But is he? And doesn’t it
tell you a thing or two about our culture.
Now coming to the begging part, what I think is, that
foreigners accentuate the problem of begging in India, because for them giving
a rupee or two or sometimes a ten rupee note is not a big thing (and this
entails them to deride Indians by deducing that India is still a poor country
and full of beggars) but what they don’t realize is that they are breeding an
unpopular culture here. This problem can be abated if not eradicated if foreign
travelers are advised at the airport itself not to give any money to beggars
and if they are so interested in throwing largesse they should rather donate in
some NGOs.
Few days back I saw a kid at metro at around 10:30 PM
stymieing a lady, he was coming in her way when ever she tried to walk ahead
putting her in an embarrassing situation. We rebuked the kid then only he left
the lady and later we found out that he was drunk.
Begging has become a profession in some families who just want
to continue their family business despite having resources to make their own
life. May be this is easy or may be they don’t want to work hard.
Beggars operate in a very organized manner; they have a certain
territories which they can not cross. And that is why you might have noticed
that if you don’t give money they will accompany you to certain place and then
will walk away and will find another victim.
If you didn’t know, begging is a crime in India but then isn’t drunk driving also
a crime? But who cares the law as long as we can get away with it. We should wake
up to reality sooner than later.
The offense of begging comes under prevention of begging
act. It is a state law and differs from state to state. In Delhi The Bombay
Prevention of Begging Act 1959 is applicable which deals with the penalty or
detention of beggars for the offense of begging. Not just begging but if you
are giving money to the beggar it is a crime too.
So from next time whenever you see a firang giving money to
beggars just stop them there and then.
It really hurts seeing infants begging, teenagers working in
hotels and innocents getting trafficked.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how
to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
Good Morning, Have a nice day!
