It is part and parcel of urban life in Pakistan that you have to stop at red signal for some time daily, which gives you ample opportunity to observe the busy-ness and hustle and bustle as soon as the signal turns red. Beggers , newspaper seller, flower seller, guys with wiper to clean your windscrean.
Now here starts the dilema… I have noticed that percentage of beggers among these people is quite low. Most of people at signals at busy roads are trying to sell something or want to offer services. Now here is some scenario
Scenario # 1
An elderly handicapped guy is selling newspapers **(urdu zamima ) **or evening paper which is often cheap and hardly have any news. only sensation and tid-bits. So, people are normally are not interested in those substandard newspapers, except when there is some breaking news like BB’s assassination.
Now, A Gentleman in a car offered Rs.10 to that elderly guy but politely refused when newspapper seller gave him his copy. Now he was insisting that the gentleman should take his copy, but The gentleman never needed it in the first place and gave money to appreciate the hardwork by that handicaped person. In the end that guy refused the charity money angrily and gave back Rs 10 to gentleman and walked away.
Myself being a miser (sort of), also tend to buy stuff from these vendors. Once.. okey, quite often i used to buy flowers
Now the convo:
Me: Kitney ka hai ?
*Vendor: 25 Rupey ka *
Me: Yar 20 ka milta hai, main roz leta hoon
*vendor: Nahi je, check karain bilkul fresh hai *
*Me: yaar theek hia lekin 20 main hi do *
*vendor: acha theek hai *
So the deal is sealed.
Now the philanthropist and capitalist inside, condemn and condone me respectively, at the same time. Even though i know the fair price of flowers i should have overlooked the the profit margin (which is not huge by any means) and i should have considered it charity.
The capitalist argue that this is an open market and i was able to secure a fair deal. Since the vendor agreed on the price willingly, it means the profit margin was enough for him !
i've had similar experiences at traffic lights in cities over india. but sadly there are lot of beggar children turning cartwheels and whatnot .. call it a 90 second sad entertainment.. i believe in giving to bona fide charities.. so i look stolidly ahead and try not to look at them out of the corner of my eyes.. at the end of the show they press their grubby faces against the glass and beg. never make the mistake of giving to one... the entire beggar basti will mob your car..
one time a child showed me a horrific burn on his arm... my eyes went wide open in shock and pity.. and then i realised it was a STICKER!!
and then u have people selling stuff, making 90 second deals... whether it's christmas hats or little flags to stick on your car for republic day or window shades. i end up buying things i don't even need... i'm just so relieved that they aren't begging! the technique employed there is.. they'll first say an exorbitant price, then u haggle and they say "no" in an indignant voice and they protest for 20 seconds or so. then it's 3 seconds before the light turns green... they know it as well as you do.. then they capitulate and agree to the price you quoted. you also have the exact change required, twenty rupees and the 5 rupee coin ready; in the last three seconds, the deal is sealed, goods are exchanged, and you're both on your way. when my mom notices the flag or hat, i declare how i got it at a darned good price... she shakes her head and rolls her eyes coz she knows exactly where and under what circumstances i got the damn thing :-\ in it goes into the banished drawer of things bought at traffic lights that i will never use.
to me the whole thing isn't a dilemma.. it's more a way to assuage my conscience, it's like u're giving charity but at the same time you're not encouraging panhandling/begging, etc.
You like it or not but have to stop at red signal for good minute or two. And with empty mind like mine, you cant help but observe the small world there.
Namkeen- I believe these people who are earning some meager living there at trafic signal whether they are selling stuff, offering service or simply begging all are doing same amount of labour to earn a living.
We as a passerby see the guy selling papper or flower as more honourable ? but in the end of the day he is the employee of the same thekedar (contractor) who is incharge of that trafic signal and the begger also report to him. Sad, but hardcore fact :(
codey, you're right.. it's easier to not to think of it though..
have you seen the movie Traffic Signal (bollywood)? it's a very frank look at the lives of the traffic signal workers. warning: it's a bit depressing!
Well i dont mind dispensing this small amount of money often, but being lazy and with tired mind, trading at trafic signal is not a right idea.
Once A kid approached me on signal and asked me to give him lift to next stop … I told him. ’ Let me think ! ’ and stated thinking
He looked like a normal kid (not begger), but poor and had a shopping bag. I asked what is in it. He said trouser. I asked kitney ka lya, he told me 150 ka
I asked him couple of more question and offered him ride.
As a policy, you never give lift to anyone. other than maybe to handicaped or very old folks. Specially never give lift to woman , alone or accompied by men ( make appear family )
codey, you're right.. it's easier to not to think of it though..
have you seen the movie Traffic Signal (bollywood)? it's a very frank look at the lives of the traffic signal workers. warning: it's a bit depressing!
I have seen the movie. It is interesting, though quite gloomy and filled with dark comedy. The part where guy a and his father come to see the poor begger girl for proposed nuptual. The father after agreeing to rishta says rather politically that ' hamain jahez nahi chaheye, larki ek jora kaprey main bhi Qabool hai '
To this the gullible girl says innocently, 'merey paas bhi tu bas ek hi jora hai kaprey ka' :D :(
Movie was well made, apart from few exagerations like begger gang paying commission to drivers of rich people, for inticing them to pay charity.
The life of these extremely poor people is quite different,
For instance: Religion is a luxury, which they can not afford.
kher i always get embarrassed in front of vendors, or beggars. when i see them it always makes me think that why i am here (where i am with all the luxuries and everything) and they are not where i am.
but then i was very lill when i used to face them…now i think i gonna buy stacks of books (especially for kids) and gonna give them (i dont care whether they read them, or use it to make paper-planes or either their parents wont let them read it)
kuch bhi hoo…sooner or later they gonna be stop begging us humans, rather than asking ALLAH SWT!
I wont blame them as it is a norm over here. These *dokandaar *know it very well and they keep cushion of margin for these bargaining ladies.
Although , Buying at trafic signal and then bargaining is very sad sight. Because that leaves little or no margin for the guy selling the stuff as he is already selling at very low price. And I am guitly of such behaviour too
reminds me of a bazurg about who i read that he argued with shopkeepers to get a good bargain so that he cud practice the hadith which says that argue with the seller until u start sweating....
and then when he wished to pay, he'd pay much more and consider it charity....
, alone or accompied by men ( make appear family )
(i dont care whether they read them, or use it to make paper-planes or either their parents wont let them read it)