Beggars on a Train
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A boy crawls along the aisle sweeping the floor with a his sweater, a paralyzed man drags himself through the dirty path as people move their legs avoiding eye contact. A mother carries a baby on her arm as she sings to the drum beat of a young boy and a Eunuch or transvestite (I am not sure which one) walks through and simply demands money.
I refuse.
How quickly I have turned off the switch of empathy. You must here in India. The sorrow and guilt would tear you apart. For every cruel hand of fate dealt out to one person, a thousand others have a sadder story.
The boy comes back again and sweeps into my berth. It is too close to my bag for my comfort. I grab his arm in accusation. His thin frame feels soft to my touch. If I grabbed any harder I may have broken it. He has taken nothing. I apologize. He ignores my apology and begs for food and money.
I give nothing.
Nobody gives our exchange a second glance. He moves on sweeping the floor with his dirty rag and I feel compelled to write.
He is the same boy that slept in front of the ticket booth where I bought my general seating car to Hampi, India this morning.
A giant crowd pushed their way through the queue trying to make it to their trains on time. People rushed to the front of the line begging others to buy them their ticket. They hand them money. “ My train leave in five minutes” a woman says. Everyone refused to let her in or add her ticket to their order. The line is at least 50 people deep. She will not be making her train today.
Children of the Train
All this time in the mayhem and chaos, three boys sleep on the floor with serene faces containing slight smiles. Everyone steps over them like they are mounds of garbage.
They are the children of the trains and for some inexplicable reason, the ticket booth agents allow them to lay in the aisles of the queue. The also allow them on the trains. They stick around the entire 6 our ride and nobody says a word.
As I finish writing down my thoughts, the same boy, tall thin and filthy to the bone, walks by with what looks like his younger brother. They munch on an apple as they walk to the back of the train to start all over again.
At that moment, he seems innocent and happy.
12 Responses to Beggars on a Train
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Sometimes in situations like that the hardest thing is saying no, but where does it end… I think that is a real dilemma that any traveller to India will experience at some point and probably on multiple occasions… You captured the moment beautifully!
It’s just a shame that there’s no real solution…
.-= Happytimeblog´s last blog ..January 2010 desktop wallpaper download… =-.
@happytimeblog thank you for the comment. It was difficult for me. I tend to feel a little too much and it stays with me for a long time. You are right, I wish that there was a real solution. What can we do for a country with a billion people and a large percentage of it is living in poverty. You want to help but you just can’t help everyone.
It is strange too, whenever I have given something (only to handicapped people-I feel that they have very little hope), I feel even more empty, like I have just contributed to the problem and didn’t really help them at all.
It is a problem that every traveler faces.
I find it nearly impossible to say “no”, but you’re right, you have to refuse. Also, those trains sound like a semi-nightmarish experiene.
.-= Candice´s last blog ..Doing Canada: Where I’m Going and Where I’ve Been =-.
Hi Candice. The 2 and 3 AC sleeper trains are quite nice, but really tran travel is not my favorite here in India. It is always stressful. The platforms are crowded, booking can be frustrating and if you happen to end up in non ac sleeper, it can be difficult. We spoke to one couple that completely missed their train. They were standing on the platform and when the train came the crowd pushed ahead. They couldn’t get on and the train left without them… They were happy to see that at least their entire party of 4 didn’t make it on. It would have been a nightmare is one or two got on and the others didn’t.
Dave and I have made a contingency plan just for that scenario. Sometimes the crowds are so big that one gets swept ahead. You just don’t know if the other made it on or not. However, it is not such a circus in the AC classes, less people.
i think you just did the right thing…
i never give out money to any beggars i see, but sometimes if i have food and water, i give it to them… im not sure if its wrong or right but sometimes it’s just hard to say no…
sigh!
flip is dreaming for a better world for all of us
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Hi Flip, thanks for the comment. So true. sometimes it is just really hard to say no when you see people suffering. We are all only human and want to help.
Very difficult situation to be in when we’re not used to see it in our own countries. I would have done the same as you, and probably felt the same way afterwards. It’s part of our humanity, I feel.
.-= Gourmantic´s last blog ..Milestones and Celebrations: Indulgent Afternoon Tea at Burj Al Arab =-.
Same thing in Cambodia. There you have many people who have been maimed by the land mines or kids with no shirts on.
We fed one kid who came to our table at a restaurant and begged for food. We could not turn him away.
Heartbreaking but you can’t give all your money.
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Wow – a really heartbreaking story. But I agree with everyone – you did the right thing. Often the people who are doing the actual begging are simply being exploited by someone else, who is reaping the rewards and is likely in perfect health and capable of working. The money you give to the beggar only lines someone else’s pockets. But that doesn’t make it any easier to say “no”, it still breaks your heart.
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I have seen poverty in my days through travels as well as through my work. India I think has been the worst and the most painful to my heatt. We were told by the Burmese monks that accompanied us to NOT give-one Burmese monk has lived there for over 50 yrs. As heart breaking as it was for us, me and my mother, we had to turn the other way as well.
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