Any help, Sir

Beggars are one integral part in the landscape of India. They live on the sympathies of the ‘well-to-do’. Giving alms boosts the egos of the ‘well-to-do’ and hence begging is tolerated to an extent.

But on the process of attracting foreigners, the beggars are being systematically eliminated from the major cities.

There is a famous restaurant down here. The restaurant is run by Muslims and hence famous for the non-vegetarian dishes. Any day you will find a group of young hip crowd outside the restaurant waiting for a seat inside or the parcel they ordered.

And one fine evening I was at this place, meeting up with my old college pals. We were joking about the old college days, our state of penury etc. when a man came in his wheel chair. He was very well dressed and had a lean figure. He was carrying a laminated piece of what was supposedly a photostat of a newspaper clipping. He held the clipping in his outstretched hands, asking for ’Any small help, sir’.(Help stands for money)

One among us took out the laminated clipping. It had the news about an injured guy. Surprisingly, the clipping carried no photos.

The friend turned around and jokingly said, ‘Have you guys got a change for thousand rupee note?’

We were about to joke back when the beggar suddenly replied, ‘Don’t worry sir, I have got the change for any sum’.

We were astounded. This guy was richer than any of us. We silently cleared the scene.