Marketing sometimes helps the customers to know about the products they need, but the other times it’s the most pleasant way for both the parties, for it helps the seller ‘to cheat’ and helps the buyer in the act of ‘to be cheated’. Now-a-days every economic activity includes marketing strategies at different levels and the grand business of begging is no more an exception. After I came to Ahmedabad for study I’ve been experiencing some tremendous types of beggars with equally tremendous begging acumen (of course I don’t know the names of them). On an occasion I was at bus stand waiting for bus and a young man in neat and clean clothes came and told me that his cycle had got a flat tire and he didn’t have enough money to go home by bus and asked for the ticket fare. Without even the slightest suspicion I gave him 5rs. with the immense satisfaction of being a philanthropist, and to be frank I could have given even more money if he had asked for so. Then I met the similar type of experience again and this time also funded him his rent convinced that in such a big city like Ahmedabad two persons can have their cycles with flat tire and pockets with empty wallet simultaneously. Now it was the third time I heard the same story but till than I was no more a vulnerable subject and was prepared not to be robbed (though I don’t call them robbers or cheaters due to the negligible amount they rob or cheat) by all such types of broad day robberies.
On another incident we were in Delhi sitting in the bus to Agra when a poor girl came and handed over us a template asking for monetary help which claimed that the girl is an orphan, and above all the template borne a sign of an advocate. Till now I was become highly invincible against these traps and didn’t give a single rupee but I was slightly feeling guilty for not helping her, but that guilt was completely vaporized when an another girl came on the next station with the same type of template.
On yet another but the most memorable occasion in Ahmedabad me and my friend was waiting for bus and a man in thirties, well dressed came and told us that he had taken a pledge for his daughter that he would collect some money only by bagging and would present that collected money before the goddess in some temple, having informed this he showed us his wallet with the amount of money more than the total amount we had in our wallets and asked for 10rs. by adding that money doesn’t matter it was only a matter of pledge. Now this was totally irresistible for both of us, and my friend contributed his part to his ‘holy’ pledge. Needless to say it was only a trick.
But such wonderful experiences make me ponder a little. Should we patronize the beggars? Well this has been a big topic of debate. Out of a sympathetic feeling some are in favor of helping them on the other side there are so called rational people who never give a paisa to them. I am partially in favour and partially in opposition. By digging deep into this apparently trivial but yet a factor affecting all of us, I can say that there are 3 cases of beggars. First the children , nobody should ever give a single rupee to them if we think of philanthropy because the moment he starts believing that the begging business is a profitable and easy one he would never come out of it and would remain a beggar lifetime. The another case is the youngsters, with the rising economy even the biharis get the daily wage by drudgery so why cant those beggars? The last case is of old-aged, there are two types of old-aged beggars one who have always been beggars right from their childhood and have never tried to work, they deserve this poverty and should not be given help. The second type is of those who because of old-age are not able to work and at a last solution they chose begging, to help them is a social duty for every one of us. But how to differentiate between these two types? Well don’t care take risk, patronize the both types.
