hey this is fun. Ok - I took a long time getting used to the beggars you see everywhere on the street. First time for me right? What happened was that I felt very uneasy in the beginning walking past them and I really did not know if I should give or not. :) And I did get kind of angry - they can be pushy if they can keep up with you walking. Having been here for over 6 months now the whole thing is much more relaxed for me but it was a process. Now this town is a spiritual pilgrimage place so you have a lot of western devotees flying in once or twice a year for a month or two. Heaps of walking money obviously. And they go for the ashram to have darshan twice a day. The way is lined moderately with beggars and I never really give to them now. In fact I only give to one old 'amma' who sits on the corner in the morning when I pass. She has got the most genuine wildest happy laugh and looks a hundred and 10 or so. Now the other thing I do is take the beggar kids roaming the streets for breakfast / dosa now and then. They are professionals really - so - working :) I watch them eat the food. The story is that the Guru says - don't give money. So business adopted of course ( I am not talking about real poor people here - they don't beg actually - at least here) and what happens is that they drag you into a restaurant, let you pay the meal and if you don't want to wait and go - they might skip the meal and take rupees instead. But the one that really disturbed me are the women with the babies in their one arm - walking up and down and asking for milk for the baby. A western Devotee, coming here for spiritual growth and full of compassion just has to heed that call :) So he/she walks along to a store the woman points out and buys the milk. And it is Nestle milk powder for babys. It is not cheap - 120 Rupees. So the devotee swallows maybe but buys the stuff, hands it over and goes happily. Not judging here - or saying he is a fool its all good really. Anyway. I know now that there are about 12 of these women. They meet on schedule in the morning and decide who walks where. Then they set off. The babys they carry get tranquilizers if they are too lively for the job. Some of them are way to big and old to be carried around. When the woman has the packet - she goes and sells it back to the shop half price - two way deal here. And that is what happens if you give out the order to give food - not money. :))) Now of course it is not like that with all of the beggars - what I am ranting about is that once I found that out it made it real difficult for me to stay nonjudgemental. Things like this harden my heart and make me react badly towards anyone coming up asking for help. So I had to learn to accept it and see it as part of the world (remember? woman and gold:) he he - just kidding) - In essence - I think India is a wonderful place to learn about oneself. To master all these behaviour patterns I brought with me and that are falling away now. Takes time - at least for me it does. But it is well worth it. So this is not advice about another scam going on but rather me being so caught up in my what is right and what is wrong jerry mentality. :) Great place to get rid of it. Now and the breakfast sessions with the kids are always a good laugh and great fun. :)
Oh - of course I did buy the milk once :) and I heeded my mums advice to open the packet and hand it then over. The woman (begging) was not amused. But it had a stale taste for me. It was like me lecturing her. And I have no idea who she is or what life she is leading - So I chose not to buy the stuff at all in the future. Peace.
