I remember a time when I saw a man without cloths sitting in a tent of a slum in Panvel. I felt pity of him. I don't know whether he sat in this attire to gain sympathy or to fool people like me. I went to him and I offered him 21 Rs and asked him to eat something. He replied aggressively," Bikhaari samjha hai kyaa?" I quitely moved away from there. A guy who is all dark. The only thing visible in his body are his teeth, nails and dandruffs. The boy is cloth-less and has a desperate eyes which is demanding some favor, some help, some charity to him. How can you avoid thinking that he is a beggar? But according to him he isn't a beggar, he is just a person whose dream wasn't fulfilled and because of which he is living in the slum right now. Wow. I felt insolence at that moment but this insult taught me something. The person who has lost everything he had in the life can also keep his self-respect spotless. He can keep it immaculate and pellucid. This boy didn't turned into a beggar. Even when I came to his tent and favored him money, he didn't took it. He is ready to shiver in the night without cloths but he is not ready to be satisfied and be comfortable with the haraam ke rupai I was offering him.
Wow. I also remember a boy who has no leg. I was sitting in the train. I saw him dragging himself to get inside the coach. I was sure that he is a beggar and as soon as he will be successful in climbing inside the coach, he will start his job of poking every seated person and ask for money. After I saw his legs with a peer concentration, I found that he lost it because it came beneath the train on the tracks and he became victim of such mishap. So feeling pity of him, I called him to give 2 Rs. He came to me and said," Sahaab aise nahi leta hu main, kuch kaam bolo." I compelled him a lot to take money without following any of my orders but again a man with self-respect showed the power of his ethics and morale. I asked him how did he lost his legs. He answered me that it happened because his parents didn't had money to provide his body some polio drops and thus his legs were cut. I was completely blank after hearing myself for the first time about the level of poverty we are living in. I gave him 5 Rs this time, he refused again but I told him that I just wanted to know the story of his half legs and he told me and thus my job is done and hence, I am giving him rupees with love and happiness and not by pitying on him. After I told him this, he smiled, touched my feet (which I never liked) and went away. It was so touching and palpable.
These are the examples of such beggars whom you meet accidentally and you experience the presence of GOD through their conduct of speech and confidence. Some beggars still think that they can be rich and crorepati. There is no problem in thinking this. They can. They surely can. Today, many non-deserving people are sitting on expensive sofas in a luxurious flat. These people are killing the innocent but there is no one to stop them and their misdeeds. So when such people who aren't the form of GODS but the form of DOGS can be rich, why can't such beggars through whom you can feel GOD. I am just proud of such beggars. I never pop out the coins from my purse to give them to beggars but I do when I see a beggar performing something very passionately. They don't have any source of income. We are the source of income. We are the audience to their activities and work they do in the public places. Why to watch it for free? We should pay them. I do just because of this reason. I hope even you would have met such slumboys who aren't poor by heart and soul. Please share about them in the comment section.
Thanks.
ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU
4 CoMMenTs !!! - U CaN aLSo CoMMenT !!!:
Well, there are people who are handicapped who would not like to be pitied and would want to be seen as equals to us, normal people. I think we should applaud their fighting spirit and zeal to live. In my opinion, people who beg on the roads, even the handicapped ones are just lazy. Its not that the Government is willing to help them, its that they don't want to lead an alternate lifestyle.
Yaa... both the perspective mentioned by u is correct.
the homeless or poor...but begging is not good it jus makes an easy living for lazy people..there are many handicapped people in US too ..but so many benefits and so much encouragement is given to these kinda people to make them work and a better living even reservations they have at work places colleges or stores to study or work......otherwise whole country wud be begging!!or slums at every corner!!
u r right mam.. Indians are poor in majority. no scheme or funding or any type of favoring can diminish all the poverty and everything wich is barricading this country to be rich... We will see this beggars in more number in the future... suppose if there are 10,000 beggars or slum-resident.. each one of them at average has 3 children... that means in next 10 to 15 yrs we will see atleast 3 times of the beggar present now... So, we can just either avoid them or entertain them by donating money.. I do it sometimes only to the people like I have introduced in the post.. not to every1..
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