Standing on a red signal, many of us have had unique experiences with multitude of beggars & mendicants who come to you with open wish list - giving them alms satisfies our consciousness though it is an inside pacification which tells us that today you did something good worth living for - though thinking from a practical perspective of life, for these pavement dwellers it is an everyday affair and sort of business for them to run.
Many of street urchins are
trained and made to look shabby and in penury to be cynosure of all eyes so
that we can have pity on them and give them what they ask for. My latest
rendezvous with little sweet girl - all of 6-7 years of age gets in scripted in
my heart as a life-long memory. Waiting for a signal to turn green, a sudden
knock on my car window brings my attention towards a young girl having braided
hair and face smeared and looking like a destitute.
Upon close scrutiny and bringing my car window
down, the usual script starts from her - asking for alms and anything which can
bring happiness in her life for the time being, she is ready to openly accept.
As the time ticks off, i am left with little choice to converse with her but
still as a usual chatterbox that I consider myself, I certainly didn’t want to evade
this opportunity for sure.
What is your name? " as I
ask her, she is somewhat taken back and reverts " Kavita is my name. “Do
you study" was my next obvious question and as per my expectations her
answer was "No" - this lead to my into an instantaneous emotive
stance - thinking what the future holds for this little soul - She is ignorant
about her future but what about her caretakers - her parents - does not they
provide or enroll her to a govt / primary education center where she can be of
use to her own self and thus to the society in general? Who knows she turns out
to be a good student and caresses her life to something brilliant when she
turns adolescent!
Now that she is enjoying her
merriment and is free of bondage of studies and going to a regular school, she
is enjoying her damaging freedom not thinking about what future holds for her!
As I was engrossed in my own thoughts she started to again ask for alms as her
primary objective, she could not afford to spend so much time on one 'Customer'
for they have only limited amount of time to spare considering the volumes of
cars / scooters etc. halting at their 'Picking Spots'.
Giving her a 10 Rs note , I
turned on the gears and started to steer the vehicle towards my destination -
not before looking towards the rear mirror and saw her dancing in her own world
and happy as if she has got all the goodies of the world - Though for me I had
done a crime by inducing her to begging and uplifting her confidence to do so
more - As they say life moves on, I pray for her today as she and her parents
/caregivers dont know what harm is being done to her existence in long term, only certitude of time would holds a strong testimony to this predicament of hers...till then we all wait and watch....
