How often do you wonder what to do? When you find a poor person begging for MONEY, at times we give what we can spare, which may be sufficient to buy some food or at best a meal. At time we give something which is actually nothing and buy them not even a cup of tea. Sometimes we wonder if by giving alms we are encouraging more beggers and child abductions and slavery and even childrens being sold, just like the back drop of slum dog millionaire. Funny as I write this line, I hear the famous music of KBC being played. Do we then see these beggers and only if they look like real beggers, unable to find any work, only then we decide if it give them any money or not? Well in that case are we not judging? Or let's look at it differently, are expecting them to look the part only then we budge. I have teken a out right decision not to give any alms, no matter who is asking or with whom I am with. Yet from time to time I am faced with such situations as I I did this Saturday morning. Before I tell you what happened I would let you in on my state of mind, which might help you understand my state of mind. A bike’s tyre should be changed every 36-48 months, depending on usage. I have had this bike for well over 8 years, which obviously is much more than 36-48 months and have not changed the tyres, I have been wanting to change them for some time now. More so after the fateful Accident on Pratap’s Birthday this year. Which has left me with a scar and blemish of the only accident with my wife in 9 years of our relationship. I finally managed to change the tyres on Friday, yet the bike did not seem to ride the way it should. Hence I fixed up an appointment with the mechanic who does such work. I had a long day or I should actually say night, and then when I came back home I was only looking forward to a good sleep. Yet somehow I dragged my self to the workshop. On my way back I bough a few things from the super market. Then walked it to Nonapukur bus stop, I saw quite a few cycle rickshaws and two hand pulled rickshaws, in the 1st one, an old man was sleeping in a tiny foot rest. I really did not feel like walking and the cycle rickshaws usually are pretty rude when you try to reason the fare. I decided to ask the old man who was asleep if he would go. I was really hesitant, since this man was really frail and did not look like could walk the distance, let alone pull a rickshaw and my 75 kilos plus some shopping items. Yet I boarded the rick and he was on the way, he did not have any footwear and everytime his feet grazed the dirty rood and seemed some discomfort to me, I am sure this man was used to this. I sometimes wore a slipper at home. The roads have many pot holes and the tram tracks make it tougher. I was really feeling sorry for him and wondered if I should ask him to stop pay him the fare and walk it the rest of the way. Then I tought I would be giving him money which could be similar to alms. Well I wondered only cause we feel sorry, should we avoid using these hand pulled rickshaws, more so if they are drawn by old men such as my pilot. I reasoned hard in my troubled heart, I was tad embarrassed wondering what people looking on would think of me? To my surprise I did not find anyone looking at me, as if not noticing any thing different. Well it was nothing different, we have had this ever since the inception of this city. I kept looking at this mans trembling feet and wondered if I should ask him to sit and should I take up the yoke. Well the passive human that we have all turned out to be I just sat and kept feeling sorry. To my relief the roads ahead were crowded and that gave me an excuse to get off earlier, I hastily paid him, knowing double the fare he had asked for. He probably did not realize the error. I wondered and wondered and soon got bargaining with the greengrocer over the price of fresh peas and until now did not think of the poor frail rickshaw puller chacha. Why should we do in sucj a situation were we see thinkgs are not right everywhere, we see young boys who should be in school serving water in the local restaurants. If you address the issue, the people who run the hotel will tell you how the parents who gave birth to this child have no way of feeding them and they are actually doing them a favor by hiring them, this way these kids get to sleep with no hunger in their stomach. Well think hard, at a time when we are hell bent on saving the tiger and the planet are we over looking these small yet injustice that is meted out to our fellow human. Does not birth give everyone equal right to have atleast the basic. We are talking about Sports as a subject in school. What about addressing the real problem, which is poverty and uncontrolled breeding. Is not fashionable to say anything against such movements, I have nothing against them, only thing I have to say, these are matters which require more attention and efforts. You should not just sit their wondering as I did and all I did was pay a few extra rupees.
