The old man with thick lenses shuffled up to the car
window with his palm open. He held a few agarbathis (Incense sticks) in the
other hand. His skin was rough and wrinkled and the expression pitiful.
Silently I paid my conscience money and felt good to see the smile on his face
when I refused to take the agarbathis in exchange.
Hypocrite! My mind screamed at me silently.
“What are you doing anyway? Paying for your
comfort?” mocked the torturous mind.
The soul sadly agreed with its eternal foe and said,
“Like paying your electricity bill for your cold comfort, you pay the old man
to ease your uncomfortable conscience!”
I always have these tussles at the traffic signals. It is
here I see a part of my country which does not fill me with pride. The
obviously pregnant teenage girl, carrying a small child, begging; the little
boy with the twisted arm, begging; the well dressed and made-up eunuchs,
begging; and of course the aged on the last legs of life, begging.
After watching slum dog millionaire I had become very
callous. I imagined that all these people are employed by the beggar mafia to
earn for them and refused to hand out money. It’s especially irritating that
when you give money to one child another five turn up for their share of my
conscience money. But lately as I grow older, I cannot bear to see the aged
begging and go on doling out whenever and how much ever I can.
The world I believe is filled with two kinds of people-
the givers and the takers. It’s not only about money. It’s about emotions and
happiness. Most of my life, I have been a taker (I think I still am!) I have
taken love, happiness and money without giving it a thought. I have taken it
for granted and as a part of my rights and privileges! I have given (Hopefully
I have!) but not to the extent that I have received. From my Parents,
sister, husband and children – I have taken life, love, happiness, care and
sympathy without a second thought. Am I then like the beggars? Opening my hand
and heart and accepting what has been given to me with a smile?
Are we all like the small microcosm of the traffic
signal? Giving and taking? Bears introspection, doesn't it?
According to the season, I get to see the strawberry /
mango / sugarcane/ apricot sellers there too. I have fun with them! Whatever
price they ask I simply divide it by two and I am usually surprised that they
agree! I am sure they have done their market research and know how exactly to
handle the varied type of clientele! As it is much cheaper than the shops I buy
them from, I am happy and they are happy too- win-win situation. They have no
establishment cost and hence can reduce their profit margins drastically for
some customers. Many people (mostly men) are in a hurry and assume these people
are anyway cheap and pay them whatever they ask for. So here they get hundred
percent profit.
I have read a few articles on these vendors. How they are
irritating, how they ruin the economy, how they have a mafia by themselves but
never a word of appreciation about the heat and dust they face all the time!
How much they have to pay the local police to be allowed to vend in these
dangerous circumstances. I wonder how much money they make. Where they live? Do
they save?
I think they live for the moment (what most lifestyle gurus advise us to do!) never worry about the future and in time become like the old beggar.
In one of my old blog posts I had written about the
families who live on the footpath. Their trials and tribulations and their
happiness and serenity! Well I saw one such family in Santacruz. Ten years back
when I had first moved to Mumbai, I used to live there and go for walks. I used
to see a small family selling toys at the traffic signal. They lived on the
corner of the pedestrian way. They just had had a baby and it was permanently
in a small sari made cradle (Unwashed and dirty). The wife was young and pretty
(though very very dirty).
I had gone there recently and was waiting at the signal.
The family was still there! There were three children playing and another one
in the sari cradle! The smiling wife was still smiling (a few grey hairs had
crept in!) she was still dirty but now she was cooking. The man was still
selling toys with the little boys helping him carry his stuff. They toys were
different; more techno smart and colourful and now only people in the autos and
motorcycles looked at them.
The interesting thing was he was selling small alphabet booklets and colouring books for pre-K children too. I saw the third child flipping through some of the books near its mother. Will he read them or learn to read them? Will he get educated and try to get out of the kind of life they were leading?
The light turned green and the wife yelled at the
children to get away. They nimbly jumped out of traffic’s way into their safety
zone.
I hear India has advanced very far in the Economic arena. We are the third largest tourists in the world. We have a growing number of billionaires. Our middle class is one of the richest. Yet I see this picture every time I step out of my home.
Could some venture capitalist finance some new ideas to
remove poverty and helplessness? I am sure some app could be developed to gouge
out this black spot in our economic horizon. Apple, I believe has had one of
the largest profit margins in India this year!
I have seen many companies trying to alleviate such
sufferings in their own way. But are we doing enough? In ten years we have not
changed the life of one pavement dweller! Where are all the societies hiding?
We have millions being spent on advertisement for “equal streets” movement and
not a few thousand to give to this family?
I think it’s time to introspect and ask when the good
times will come. When skating on roads causing traffic jams elsewhere will lead
on to concrete plans for every child and not only for the select few? When real
estate advertisements stop talking about LSF (Life Style Factor) for your child
and focus on Corporate Social responsibility?
I continue to squirm uncomfortably....
