Beggars in Chennai, San Franscisco or Spain..
Had a very interesting experience yesterday. Was out shopping in Purasaiwalkam, one of the most crowded shopping areas in Chennai. As I was getting ready to enter into my car a haggard looking man with really short hair accompanied by a similarly thin woman carrying a small baby stopped us (my wife, my daughter and me).
Over the noise of the traffic I could hear him asking if I spoke Hindi. “Ji haan, boliye,” I said more to show off my (limited) prowess in Hindi to ‘my girls’. He launched into a story of how he had come to Chennai from Uttar Pradesh in search of work, but the ‘agent’ who promised him work and a place to stay ran away with all his money. Common enough story.
He said he just needed money for a ticket to get home. Rs. 210/-. He said that this money would buy just one ticket and since his wife may not get thrown off the train, as she had a small baby, they would manage.
My wife and me, we looked at each other. It was a very convincing story and the baby was smiling beautifully at us. How can you resist this? We had a quick chat and gave him Rs. 100 – all I had in my wallet (we just finished shopping remember?). He slipped it into his pocket, thanked us and disappeared into the crowd with his family.
I am sure many of us have been in the same situation. It was a long minute before we made the decision to give out the money and the thoughts that ran through our minds were;
‘Is this guy conning us? No, he seems decent enough and genuine enough.’
‘Are we encouraging begging? Shouldn’t we get him the ticket rather than give him the money.’
As we drove away both of us were silent for a moment. Most of use believe that we should not encourage begging and hence don’t give out money. Well, Tony Long, the copy chief at wired.com has a very interesting perspective on this issue. This is the quote I like most from the article;
“So the next time a bum tries to cadge a buck out of you, at least have the courtesy to pull the earbuds out and engage him as a fellow human being. Don’t give him any money if you don’t want to. But acknowledge him. He’s not a blot on your aesthetic little world. If he is, well, your problems are bigger than his.”
A few years ago in my aimless reading I came across a short sci-fi novella called ‘Beggars in Spain’ by Nancy Kress. It is the story of genetically engineered children who are ‘sleepless’ and hence hyperintelligent. It is a very different growing up story and the reason for the title comes from two situations;
Quote from the wiki on the novel;
“Tony Indivino, while defending his idea to create a Sleepless-only enclave to Leisha, poses the question that shapes the novel and gives it its title. “If people are only worthwhile so long as they contribute to society, what do you do when you’re walking down the street in Spain and you see a beggar? Do you give him a dollar? Why? You’re justifying his existence, which accomplishes nothing. What if you see six beggars? What if you see a hundred, and they gang together and steal your money and then beat you to death out of sheer jealousy of what you have and they can’t?”
Leisha Camden, the protagonist in the novella concludes the piece with her own surmise which makes more sense to me;
“Yes, there are beggars in Spain who trade nothing, give nothing, do nothing. But there are more than beggars in Spain. Withdraw from the beggars, you withdraw from the whole damn country. And you withdraw from the possibility of the ecology of help.”
Well, most of my post have a movie reference in them and the no brainer choice for this post would be Pay it Forward.
I only wish I had asked for the baby’s name.
