The Pain of Poverty

When my car stops at a railway signal, I often try to avoid making eye contacts to beggars who are knocking at my car window in expectation of a few rupees. Whenever I look into their eyes, I invariably reach out to my wallet and find out a 5,10 or 50 rupee note and give that to them. 

I know many of these beggars are not needy. They do it everyday and they may be part of an organised cartel but I don’t think too much about this. There might be one or two among them who have no other options but to beg. I don’t think anyone will willingly choose begging as profession. They might get sucked into begging and then find no way out. Most of the people who are begging are kids, women or old homeless people. 

Sometime I know very well that the money I give might be spend on buying a smoke, liquor or some sweets. But even we spend money on that. Our justification is that we earn that money. But we indulge in these things to get some happiness or satisfy our addiction. My contribution or not, these people will find a way to satisfy the addiction. Sometime, in absence of lack of money,  they will do something that might permanently (selling their body for money, doing illegal things for others etc..) harm them or others. 

I have often given people a 500 rupee note and walked away. Just to give them that unexpected happiness. I am not bothered what they spend the money on. But the look on their face is worth it. 

I wish we had a systematic and functioning beggar rehabilitation plan. Beggars do not have any place to get them treated for even the common of diseases. These disease prove fatal for them. They do not have schools where their kids can be accepted and given quality education. In fact, most to the kids are physically and mentally handicapped due to lack of nutrition and care in their early stages. Studies suggest that nutritious food and care in pregnancy decides the future development of the kid. If they do not get the required nutrition their brain is underdeveloped. 

If we want to get the beggars away from the streets we need to invest in resources and facilities that economically less fortunate people can avail. I know of many cases when many of my friends tried to get the beggar kids admitted into the schools but kids relapsed into begging. First, their parents were dependent on the money the kids were bringing once the kids started to go to school they started starve. Second, the school kids looked down upon them. Parents and kids both were not keen to continue. 

We cannot just do one thing and hope that everything will change. We have gradually eradicate this evil. Unfortunately, in the giddying growth of our urban centres and development focusing on the needs of the middle class, the pain of poor people is not felt by many who are in charge of making potent decisions.