ympathy, compassion … anything that pulls at the heart strings, sells. Bollywood dishes it out in large dollops, and so do beggars. And it works for both.
Begging is a world-wide phenomenon. In 2016, Sweden had 4,100 beggars and Paris is full of them. Of late, beggars in the city of the Eiffel Tower are posing as Syrian refugees to make more money. And a genuine Syrian refugee named Anas Alayoubi has made it is mission to expose these fake beggars.
In Luxembourg, beggars are an organised lot, like the fellows back home. In the US, there are several beggars and several court rulings which state that begging is protected by the First Amendment’s free speech provisions.
Now, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has made it his mission to get rid of all the beggars in Goa. He is going to create a special facility, hopefully with free wi-fi, where beggars can relax until they die natural deaths. What Parrikar does not know is that nothing is more invigorating and exciting than hoodwinking people into parting with their money. What’s the big deal? Some people sell handkerchiefs others sell sympathy. Donald Trump would have called it the art of the deal. Parrikar thinks it’s a menace. Everybody seems to think that getting rid of them is a good idea and how did we get around to this way of thinking? We, for some odd reason believe that beggars are rich guys posing as poor guys to make money. They might not have Maruti cars or Hero bikes, but they allegedly have secret stashes of money and who knows they could have smartphones with WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter accounts. So the house that Parrikar is building for them better be more entertaining than the street.
There are some who insist that beggars give the city a bad name. There are others who think beggars are not the problem, garbage is. Would any Goan or Indian street for that matter look the same without a cobbler, a paan shop and a beggar? It’s a cultural thing.
Finally, beggars are also human beings, who have been forced to give up their dignity in order to survive in a ruthless world which has no space for a loser. But they have turned their circumstance into an industry or sorts. They are not organised like ASSOCHAM or GCCI, but they have the same drive and have evolved a system which works as efficiently as the graft system in the transport department.
Getting rid of beggars is not as easy as it seems. Saudi Arabia, a wealthy nation, has beggars and every time it got rid of one set of beggars they were replaced by another. If the new beggars’ paradise that Parrikar wants to build is like the Apna Ghar, beggars will start fleeing to either escape the boredom or for the fun of it.
Not so long ago, beggars used to visit homes in the village for a coconut-shell full of rice grain. In return the inmates of the house receive a blessing. It felt good to help someone. But if you still want to get rid of beggars then make them pay sopo tax and put parking attendants in charge because these guys are ruthless when it comes to collecting what is due to them.
