It’s said that beggars can’t be choosers, but going by recent experiences, I beg to differ.
Begging is no more a simple act of seeking alms. It’s become a craft that requires a skill set of persuasion, communication and dogged determination. Beggars have evolved with time. They are experts in reading body language and ascertaining the paying capacity of their targets. Their means and methods of extracting money out of the pockets of people have undergone a sea change, too.
Earlier, I would keep a handful of coins in the car dashboard to ward off frequent alms-seekers who knocked on the window at traffic signals. With the advent of UPI, coins have almost dried up and I’ve begun keeping packets of biscuits to distribute when asked for roadside charity. Once, while waiting at the traffic lights, I was in for a surprise when a beggar refused to accept the biscuits. “I need cash. If you don’t have low denomination (currency) notes, here’s my QR code,” he said without batting an eyelid.
On another occasion, while I was walking to fetch milk from the nearby booth, two beggars began to follow me. They were pestering me for money but I chose to ignore their pleas. In the meantime, I reached the milk booth. When they realised I was not going to part with money, they said, “Ok, if you don’t want to give us cash, buy us buttermilk.” I told the shop owner to provide both of them with the buttermilk. As he handed them the sweet lassi, one of them said, “We won’t have the sweet one. We prefer salted lassi.” The shopkeeper had to send his son to another shop in the adjacent lane to get the salted lassi to satiate the taste of his customers.
A few months ago, I had another encounter with a woman beggar. I was waiting in the car while my wife was out shopping in the market. The beggar, carrying a frail, scantily clad infant held up an X-ray asking for money from passers-by for the child’s treatment. The child was supposedly suffering from acute pneumonia. I got out of the car and approached her with the offer of getting her son treated by my paediatrician friend for free. She was taken aback and took a moment to compose herself before she said, “I’ll get my child treated by a doctor of my choice. If you can spare cash, it’s okay, otherwise move on.” I wasn’t expecting such a rebuttal from a woman in dire need of help. Chastised, I silently walked back to my car.
{{/usCountry}}A few months ago, I had another encounter with a woman beggar. I was waiting in the car while my wife was out shopping in the market. The beggar, carrying a frail, scantily clad infant held up an X-ray asking for money from passers-by for the child’s treatment. The child was supposedly suffering from acute pneumonia. I got out of the car and approached her with the offer of getting her son treated by my paediatrician friend for free. She was taken aback and took a moment to compose herself before she said, “I’ll get my child treated by a doctor of my choice. If you can spare cash, it’s okay, otherwise move on.” I wasn’t expecting such a rebuttal from a woman in dire need of help. Chastised, I silently walked back to my car.
{{/usCountry}}When my wife came back after a while, I narrated the incident to her and observed, “It’s difficult to help her out. Maybe she is a trickster.” My wife didn’t seem to agree. She said, “Dear, be wary of drawing conclusions. Beggars are also humans and every human being has freedom to choose. Maybe she has faith in a particular doctor. Let’s not judge her simply because she didn’t accept your offer. Nowadays when various segments of society are crying hoarse for their rights, why deny the beggars their right to choose?”
That sealed the deal: Beggars can indeed be choosers.
The writer is an Amritsar-based freelance contributor and can be reached at rajivsharma.rs201067@gmail.com