Beggers

They're an unavoidable part of the Indian experience - well almost, I'll get to that ... and they come in all shapes, sizes and ages.

There's the lower caste woman with sickly, listless child in arms, fly's buzzing, as she gestures, hand to mouth for food, for her, for the baby

Or the blind women shouting out an unrecognizable plea, almost a wail, over and over again, as a child leads her down the aisle of the bus

Or the lepers, legless, armless, or otherwise deformed shuffling themsleves down the street on their hands and/or knees, on whatever

Young street kids, in rags, tugging at your arm

The thin legged kids sleeping on the street or in a doorway hit me hard.

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between the sadu's seeking alms and those that are just plain crazy.

Beggers seems to favor transportion centres, bus and train stations, entrances to temples, and of course outside any business or service that caters to westerners.

Quite often, as soon as you are recognized as being western, (or foreigner as you are called here) - the plea goes out ... help me! in some form or another.

I find it hardest in a new town.

When you have been in a place for a while, and you get to know the beggers, it becomes a lot easier. You can start seeing them as people doing what they do - many have their own corner or territory, are integral parts of the community, known to those that live there. Many are real personalities. In McLeod Ganj I was starting to know a few by name, and they, or I, started to become part of the community just like Mr Roger's "these are the people in my neighborhood" and they became a part of my daily perambulations.

Mind you, that was only after I'd give a few rupees here and there - to assuage my western guilt?

Alms are a part of the whole catastrophe in India. I'm sure many wouldn't survive if it were not for what trickles down, be they beggers or holy men. The stories you here may be true, of those that break childrens bones or otherwise deform themselves or other to increase their begging capital, or the mothers that drug their children to make them appear listless and easier to drag around.

Certainly many have become very skilled at what they do. Techniques handed down, and refined over many generations - even the most hardened foreigners don't stand a chance - avoiding is much easier.

If you have money you can insulate yourself pretty well. Duck into a store, take rickshaws or cabs, travel A/C class on the train - or do as the majority of tourists do - stay in that sanitized A/C bubble, choose the fenced resorts, and get waited on hand and foot. This is a style of tourism promoted very strongly, and effectively by India's tourist industry. How many beggers, or heaps of shit and garbage do you see in those sumptuous Incredible India advertisments?

As for me, I'm getting hungry - there' a promising rooftop restaurant above this internet joint.

Wish me well.