Then there is always that day in ones life when you come across someone less fortunate and you sit back and count your blessings. Today was that day for me.
At the traffic lights, I stopped for a brief 5 minutes to wait till the signal turned green. I was sitting in my car with the AC on full blast while the temperatures sored to a 45 degree Celsius outside.
And then I noticed her... A pretty little girl of about 5 years in age who walked up to my car and started to give it a wash without my permission. The car wash lasted for less than 30 seconds and was promptly followed by her walking upto my window asking for money.
As a principle, I don't encourage begging by giving money away. So, I wagged my finger suggestively to tell her that she was not about to extol any money from me by showing me her big soulful eyes while at the same time feeling guilt for not being able to help her in a better way. I did click her photo and show it to her which brought a big smile on her face. Priceless!
Poverty is India's curse and begging is a manifestation of that but what is sad is that begging is now a big business run by mafia thus ruining lives of small little beautiful children who deserve better.
At the traffic lights, I stopped for a brief 5 minutes to wait till the signal turned green. I was sitting in my car with the AC on full blast while the temperatures sored to a 45 degree Celsius outside.
And then I noticed her... A pretty little girl of about 5 years in age who walked up to my car and started to give it a wash without my permission. The car wash lasted for less than 30 seconds and was promptly followed by her walking upto my window asking for money.
As a principle, I don't encourage begging by giving money away. So, I wagged my finger suggestively to tell her that she was not about to extol any money from me by showing me her big soulful eyes while at the same time feeling guilt for not being able to help her in a better way. I did click her photo and show it to her which brought a big smile on her face. Priceless!
She was on the road with other kids of her age. All begging for money. This was done under the quiet supervision of her mother who sat on one side while the kids danced around speeding cars, putting their lives at risk.
21 comments:
Sad but true. Come to Bangalore, temp is 18 degree ;p
Yes exactly well portrayed.
Hey Shweta, I suppose that's an invitation to your house? ;) yes, Bangalore is blessed with great weather mostly throughout the year... lucky you :) but unfortunately the poverty situation remains the same in both cities!
Thank you, Life traveller :) glad you liked it!
Lots of children beggards on the streets in Manila too. Really tragic. They get victimized physically and sexually by people around them.
Yes, it's a problem of all developing countries..its really sad to see that these kids lose a childhood
This kids are really exploited. It's hard to help them since sometimes they work for syndicates.
Every poverty level of third world country have this scene at the road. Poverty must be controlled everywhere.
This is such a shame. It was really interesting to see the photos. I can't imagine what a different world they live in to us.
India is a very beautiful country but poverty is also a very big challenge to them. Still this place belongs to my travel bucket list in the future!
a piece of harsh reality bite in a country like this. sad to notice, but kids do lose the joy of their childhood that way. They can't be happy if they managed to extol money at all.
It's really sad looking at all of these kids begging on the streets... They deserve to be in school...
im really sad when i saw kids walking and sleeping to the street.. thanks for this post .. hopefully those kids on the street sleep at their own home ..
This happens in Ecuador also. Although mostly it's boys washing windows and girls selling candy. It's really heartbreaking.
It's heartbreaking to see innocent kids being manipulated.. In developing countries the problem is so rampant that we just pass such incidences as routine..
Thanks for writing about this. It is short, but impactful. It is sad to see mums letting their kids do that in India when kids in other 1st world country are spoilt and go around killing people!
Such a very sad state of affairs. I have to wonder what will become of this little girl as she grows up in these conditions?
This reminds me every time passing a road at KL, there is a child who sells roses. Heart broken to see this. We know there are controlling by a group. But it is conflict to help and not to help. If help, the group will continue to force the child doing and help them earn more money. But if don't, the child will end up by beating by those group. Sigh.
What a tragic story... It makes me sad to read stories like this. Mainly because it is a common problem around the world; especially in so called third world countries. if the governments would take care of all their people, kids won't have to beg for food.
It's not that I don't pity them, but I won't give any money to these children... The money won't improve their quality of life anyway, regardless on how much I can afford to give... It will only encourage them to ask for money or whomever that ask them to beg for money.
The sad reality of the condition in our country na hindi nabibigyan ng atensiyon ng gobyerno.
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