A beggar and her son

Begging for alms, I presume, is the world’s oldest profession. I was driving from Egmore to Kilpauk via Ega Bridge, and while I was on the bridge waiting for the signal to turn green, I noticed this lady. She walked towards my car and asked for alms. I’m a little soft inside so I thought id give her a rupee or two. But my friend, who was sitting beside me started lecturing me on how I shouldn’t be encouraging these sort of people. I only had time to click a picture, and by the time I rolled down my glasses, the lady had moved on to the car behind mine.

Begging here in Chennai is like a disease. So many people do it. Some do it genuinely because they are incapable of doing anything else. Some people do it to specify a particular need; some lost travelers do it because they have been robbed or have lost their belonging and just need enough money to buy a ticket back home. Some do it, just because their parents did. Some are even forced to do it by the begging mafia i.e. their hands and legs are cut of and they are put on the street to beg. In a society like ours, people generally give to beggars so they will be rewarded in the hereafter and not out of pity for the beggars and their living standards. It’s quite common to see one person from a group giving a beggar alms, even when another from the same group has refused and tried chasing the beggar away. This is due to the fear of being cursed. Tomorrow I will show you a picture of this ladies son; or at least I think he is.