Beggars are coming up to my apartment now. It’s definitely uncomfortable. I had the window open the other day, and suddenly I realized there was a woman outside of it. She was standing there, not looking in at me, but more at the window pane itself. She was speaking, probably in the local Telegu dialect. At one point, I think she caught a glimpse of me and realized that I did not understand. Another woman came up to her; they laughed briefly, and then moved on.
Today someone rang my doorbell. It was after dark, and I was a little nervous because my principal had warned me just today about letting unknown people into my apartment. I opened the door, and an old man started saying something urgent to me. It wasn’t English and I pointed upwards questioningly, "Do you want the people living above me?" I was a little skeptical when he shook his head yes. My suspicions were confirmed when my landlady’s son came down to talk with the man. "The beggars are getting creative," he told me. "He said that ‘aunty’ had sent him. I asked him to describe her, and he couldn’t."
I have a suspicion that people are going door to door right now because it’s Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims are encouraged to be extra hospitable and generous to those less fortunate. I live in a very Muslim neighborhood, so I think they are actually targeting my landlady’s family more than me. This makes me feel better.
The whole beggar situation is quite tricky. I’ve heard various stances on it. Some advise that you give every so often, others say they only give to those who are physically handicapped and thus can’t work, and then there are those that advise that you never give to beggars. It is very true that it is always a risk to give—I once took out a coin to give a little girl, and suddenly a mob of children materialized. I’ve also heard that people are purposely deformed in childhood so that they will be lucrative beggars. (It happens in A Fine Balance.) At this point, I’ve made a not-so-firm decision to withhold my money. I ease my guilt by reassuring myself that I’ll give a chunk of money to a good organization before I leave.
1 comment:
I know how you feel, E. When we were in Cambodia, begging seemed to fill in this vacuum wherever commerce was missing. It was funny; if we were near a massage parlor, or along a row of tuk-tuk drivers, we'd only get requests to buy their services. But practically anywhere that didn't have a merchant or store, there'd be someone selling postcards or trinkets. Sadly, in Cambodia, parents mostly make their children do the selling, guessing they'll have more sympathetic selling power, even though the kids never get to keep the money.
Even though I suppose this isn't strictly begging -- they're ostensibly selling you something -- you do begin to question how best to respond. How can you give to everyone when there are twenty kids coming up to you at once? It's hard to feel confident in any decision you make.
Post a Comment