I guess you see them everywhere today – important road junctions, outside or in railway platforms, outside colleges. Street urchins.
During my days at junior college hanging around with a group three of them gathered around us to try and coax us to part with some money. My belief is that by giving them money all you are doing is giving them the fish and not giving them the fishing rod. Hinduism, however, has this strange tilt that has been interpreted by people as giving money to beggars.
On with my experience, the kids were coaxing us to part with money. I was being adamant and one or two guys in the group were using these kids to amuse their girl friends. It didn’t anger me then because I believed that was their way of getting the kids to work to earn their money. Very cruel way to do it when I think about it now but we were heady 17 year olds then.
The next day we sought out what had happened to one of the kids. The other two almost said non-comittally that he had died. He had taken too many beatings from his father for not getting the money he was asked to get.
First of all, I now dispise the use of these kids for entertaining your girlfriend. Why don’t you put up a clown’s costume? Why are you playing with these kids life? Or atleast give them some money at the end of it. But, it’s still cruel. Think about where they come from before interacting with them. They can’t return to home, switch on their TV and headbang to the latest rock tunes. They go home and bear the beatings they get and then go out again to try and earn some money or maybe to find a place to sleep.
The father of the child was apparently arrested. We can’t confirm this because it’s I don’t know what hand news. But, shouldn’t the law act while the injustice is being done and not after it is done?
But, I really cannot thing how the whole thing played out and we probably forgot it after a day. It came back to me again when thinking about something else.
Parallel Spirals 