Mumbai - An Addiction
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Traffic Signal
It was another day, and I was all set for another routine work day. I was at the flyover near my home to jump into the first auto I found. Usually it doesn't take much time or effort, but today, the market for autos was certainly teeming. And not all customers were swanky corporate honchos like myself.
The other customers who were hunting for autos with me were the beggars who had made a living out of taking money from the cars and autos stopping at the signal by displaying their supposedly pitiful existence. Today, while they were still looking pitifully poor as ever, the sadness in the eyes when they begged was replaced by the frustration that any person who is waiting unsuccessfully for an auto experiences.
Eventually, I got an auto... and close on my heels they got one too.
We got rolling. I couldn't stop being bewildered that the beggars were actually commuting in an auto. They couldn't be that poor after all, I guessed.
And soon I ran into a signal. I could see some beggars going about making hay while the signal was red. They approached the auto next to mine, pleading for money. And I noticed, that the auto had the same beggars who took an auto from where I had taken one. Now I have seen everything, I thought, Beggars begging from beggars!
And the beggars who were in the auto said dismissively, "Arrey, hum peeche ke signal pe kaam karte hai." (We work at the signal just before this one) Hearing that, the begging beggars simply didn't pester them. Neither did they look surprised. Nor did they display any hurt their egos ought to have experienced at seeing their peers so well off then themselves. What’s a little professional rivalry, ehh? People in my line are constantly playing the one-upmanship game when they tell each other in polite tones “Oh you have Lxi? I have ‘V’xi. Check it out.” Apparently begging is not as competitive as the corporate world. The beggars on the feet just moved on to the next auto, which was mine and said, "Bhaiyya, do din se khana nahin khaya, kuch paisa dedo bhaiyya"
I felt like asking them if they too travelled places in an auto. But I just turned my head away.
The other customers who were hunting for autos with me were the beggars who had made a living out of taking money from the cars and autos stopping at the signal by displaying their supposedly pitiful existence. Today, while they were still looking pitifully poor as ever, the sadness in the eyes when they begged was replaced by the frustration that any person who is waiting unsuccessfully for an auto experiences.
Eventually, I got an auto... and close on my heels they got one too.
We got rolling. I couldn't stop being bewildered that the beggars were actually commuting in an auto. They couldn't be that poor after all, I guessed.
And soon I ran into a signal. I could see some beggars going about making hay while the signal was red. They approached the auto next to mine, pleading for money. And I noticed, that the auto had the same beggars who took an auto from where I had taken one. Now I have seen everything, I thought, Beggars begging from beggars!
And the beggars who were in the auto said dismissively, "Arrey, hum peeche ke signal pe kaam karte hai." (We work at the signal just before this one) Hearing that, the begging beggars simply didn't pester them. Neither did they look surprised. Nor did they display any hurt their egos ought to have experienced at seeing their peers so well off then themselves. What’s a little professional rivalry, ehh? People in my line are constantly playing the one-upmanship game when they tell each other in polite tones “Oh you have Lxi? I have ‘V’xi. Check it out.” Apparently begging is not as competitive as the corporate world. The beggars on the feet just moved on to the next auto, which was mine and said, "Bhaiyya, do din se khana nahin khaya, kuch paisa dedo bhaiyya"
I felt like asking them if they too travelled places in an auto. But I just turned my head away.
