I am sure you have seen or encountered a beggar once in your life.I happened to have one such encounter today. Normally I would have ignored it, since I have seen and heard a lot of stories about scams that goes behind in the scene. But this time this person pleaded me that he can polish my Shoes or repair them if I buy him some food to eat. He even told me it will cost me something in line of 40 to 50 bucks.
This made me think about how frequently we encounter such scenarios and most of the times ignore it. What is the reason that we ignore the plight of fellow humans? Why we don’t help them knowing it costs hardly anything? What are the reasons that we ignore them as if they do not exist?
It made me list down the reasons about why I would have ignored such encounters normally.
• I could be a scam.They might mutilate and harm children just to fund an underground empire of misery for helpless and fill coffers of some unscrupulous, cruel and ruthless crime lord.
• These people are not that miserable as they pretend. They might have a secret life like the one that are in news or movies where they just have fun at expense of us feeling miserable for them.
• It’s just annoying being repeatedly bugged by a beggar for some loose change. why is he/she is bothering me when there are many others around?
• He /She should work as a labour or something than asking for alms.
These were the only the ones I could think of, there could be many more. Are these reasons enough to be ignorant to fellow humans? After all pretending something is not there or do not exist does make us morally unaccountable and we could continue with our normal lives without feeling guilty about even their existence.
There is no point to talk about this if we could not discuss these reasons for choosing to ignore them.
Firstly, not everything could be a scam; I agree that in big cities some of these beggars could be working in some sort of the organised begging racket. We forget about the migration crisis we are having {Reference1, Referenc2}.Do we see them getting better lives or do we see them benefiting from these scams? These scams only benefit the thugs who run them, and in return what, these beggars get are either the places to sleep on some footpath or few morsels of food. So instead of giving them money what can we do is to buy them a small pack of biscuit or something which they can eat or use to feed their families. There is only certain amount of food a thug could take away from them.
Secondly, imagine the last time you asked someone for some help. Was it easy to ask for those couple of hundreds or some time or some favour? Unless you are the human of a worst kind with little or no self-respect, it is really hard to ask someone for something. Every person with self-respect will try to give back that couple of hundreds as soon as possible or will be ready to help you back when you need it in any way possible. So I can't even imagine how hard it could be for a person with the slightest of self-respect to ask for some loose change or to haggle with a complete stranger. And how difficult the circumstances could have been for such a person? So the only argument I have is to have pity if not on the appearance of the person but on the state of his mind that compelled him to beg from people. Maybe some cookie points in our Karma bank will do us some good some day. I agree that many of them could and should earn their bread by doing whatever work they are capable of doing.. But if we look closely you would realise that since the industrial revolution we have been moving towards the automation as it is more economical and less time-consuming. And even if you consider the conditions of labours in the places like china and Bangladesh, the living conditions are no better. The western corporations get worked-up if any such news of workers being exploited or their miserable living conditions with low wages comes into the light They promise reforms, some money to improve the conditions and if they deem fit they announce to close that branch and then set up their shop of misery someplace else in the world.{Refrence1 ,Reference2 }
Given the way population is rising in the developing and under-developed nations not everyone could be guaranteed work. There are just too many mouths to feed. What we need is to develop a system in order to help those without work, food and home. We should have some community centres that could provide them some vocational training or find them work so that they do not get exploited. Paying five rupees more for a pair of jeans or a t-shirt etc doesn’t cost us much ,but if we make sure by law that this difference goes without any tax cuts into the welfare schemes for the betterment of the poor and unprivileged. We should have laws against children begging just like we have against child labour, and should have state run institutions as part of welfare schemes to provide better education and opportunities.
There are many other things we can do than to just ignore these people. They are same as us except without the luck or the opportunities. We can't help the former, but we can surely provide the latter.
We are humans and we surely should act like ones.
Note: These are my personal views, I am sure there will be people who will think differently but everyone is entitled to an opinion just like I am entitled to have one of my own. All the comments will be moderated to avoid any kind of spamming and insults. Any Intellectual discussions are welcome.
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Sunday, October 12, 2014
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Book Review : Half Girlfriend By Chetan Bhagat
Whenever we form an opinion about something or pass a judgement on something one thing is essential to do so in all fairness. That one unavoidable ingredient is the yardstick by which we measure. It would be unfair to judge this books in comparison with the ones in the league of the novel writers such as Tolkien ,Jordan or even the Nicholas Sparks who have their own distinct styles and ways of story-telling. But to review something which falls in the category of the popcorn fiction, we need a different yardstick. This yardstick should not measure the complexity of the words or the beautification of the prose but it should be judged on the most basic criterion that is associated with ‘pop-corn’, which is how much engaged one become while reading the book. This book is not the elaborate meal for the gourmand, but rather a simple snack for the commoners. It’s something like the bedtime stories of the princes and the fair maidens overcoming different difficulties to be together in soul.
Rather than focusing on the social issues in this book, Mr. Bhagat has concentrated more on the story that needed a beautiful telling. Unlike his few earlier books it was not a mirror to the ugliness of the social evils in the society but did have sprinkles of such issues.To say in fewer words the matters of the heart made sure the heart of the Book is in the right place.
Plot:
There is not much to discuss about the plot of this books without spoiling the fun for those who are reading it or will be reading it. It is the story of Ria and Madhav discovering love and also the meaning of their lives with time. Also in the background were the various stereotypes of education, money, language and society that we try so hard to cling to.
But what is there to talk about is the subtlety with which the Books shows us the pre-conceived notions we have about people belonging to some backward areas of the country, the red tape faced by the education sector in the country due to the selfishness of the politicians such as Mr.Ojha in the novel. But the conversation between Madhav and the Rural Surpanch also touching upon the points better discussed in Scarcity by Mullainathan and Shafir.( read struggle for survival more important than things like education).
The way in which different people define love is somewhat we should all take notice of. Love being a noble emotion can manifest itself in form of physical attraction or the fondness we develop for someone due to their thoughts. What becomes important is to know how committed one person is to it.
There are some funny parts too where the Main Character Madhav wonders about the state of the world had the industrial revolution taken place in the hinterlands of Bihar. The awkwardness of Madhav and efforts of his hostel pals to figure out their place in the world of English-speaking geniuses also shows us the divide we have created among our own countrymen by adopting elitist tendencies. Both in terms of way we communicate and thoughts we think.
There are a few lines that made me crack up like the few below
I agree there are few cliches on the lines of “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” sorts, highlighting how men remain always a step behind when it comes to understanding the fairer sex. Also for most of the part it seemed like a guy trying to sleep with a girl story. And the part having Bill Gates foundation and “Stay Hungry and stay foolish” speech by Steve Jobs as some part of the story is a deliberate plot by the Author to add some pop culture references just to make it a bit chic.
Many would call its story a crossover between 40-year-old virgin’s desperateness and the search for true love after the debauchery from Bollywood cocktail with a pinch of some melodrama. Considering the fact that the title made me think that maybe it is about the friends with benefits or some similar theme.It turned out to be a love story instead was pleasant surprise.
There is a lot of predictability, dragging and typical ending but still for a popcorn fiction’s worth it was not a bad read. It’s a paisa-wasool Novel as expected.
Here is the final report card:
Rating : 2.7/5 .
What’s Hot:
What’s Not :
Recommended ?
Yes, it’s a short read anyways. Chetan Bhagat is like Salman Khan of Indian Novels. You can hate him or love him but you can’t ignore him. And chances are you might see it as a Bollywood movie soon. ( Rumour says Ekta Kapoor is producing it.....go figure).
Rather than focusing on the social issues in this book, Mr. Bhagat has concentrated more on the story that needed a beautiful telling. Unlike his few earlier books it was not a mirror to the ugliness of the social evils in the society but did have sprinkles of such issues.To say in fewer words the matters of the heart made sure the heart of the Book is in the right place.
Plot:
There is not much to discuss about the plot of this books without spoiling the fun for those who are reading it or will be reading it. It is the story of Ria and Madhav discovering love and also the meaning of their lives with time. Also in the background were the various stereotypes of education, money, language and society that we try so hard to cling to.
But what is there to talk about is the subtlety with which the Books shows us the pre-conceived notions we have about people belonging to some backward areas of the country, the red tape faced by the education sector in the country due to the selfishness of the politicians such as Mr.Ojha in the novel. But the conversation between Madhav and the Rural Surpanch also touching upon the points better discussed in Scarcity by Mullainathan and Shafir.( read struggle for survival more important than things like education).
The way in which different people define love is somewhat we should all take notice of. Love being a noble emotion can manifest itself in form of physical attraction or the fondness we develop for someone due to their thoughts. What becomes important is to know how committed one person is to it.
There are some funny parts too where the Main Character Madhav wonders about the state of the world had the industrial revolution taken place in the hinterlands of Bihar. The awkwardness of Madhav and efforts of his hostel pals to figure out their place in the world of English-speaking geniuses also shows us the divide we have created among our own countrymen by adopting elitist tendencies. Both in terms of way we communicate and thoughts we think.
There are a few lines that made me crack up like the few below
"An army of intellectual men cannot solve the riddle created by an indecisive woman. My limited –experience panel struggled for words."
"Even the grass grew in English"'
I agree there are few cliches on the lines of “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” sorts, highlighting how men remain always a step behind when it comes to understanding the fairer sex. Also for most of the part it seemed like a guy trying to sleep with a girl story. And the part having Bill Gates foundation and “Stay Hungry and stay foolish” speech by Steve Jobs as some part of the story is a deliberate plot by the Author to add some pop culture references just to make it a bit chic.
Many would call its story a crossover between 40-year-old virgin’s desperateness and the search for true love after the debauchery from Bollywood cocktail with a pinch of some melodrama. Considering the fact that the title made me think that maybe it is about the friends with benefits or some similar theme.It turned out to be a love story instead was pleasant surprise.
There is a lot of predictability, dragging and typical ending but still for a popcorn fiction’s worth it was not a bad read. It’s a paisa-wasool Novel as expected.
Here is the final report card:
Rating : 2.7/5 .
What’s Hot:
- Easy to read ( 2-2.5 hrs of uninterrupted reading).
- Cleaner story and maybe more focussed of story telling than social issues.
- Cheek in mouth humour at times.
What’s Not :
- Typical Chetan Bhagat Type Narration.
- Predictable end.
- Too Many clichés.
Recommended ?
Yes, it’s a short read anyways. Chetan Bhagat is like Salman Khan of Indian Novels. You can hate him or love him but you can’t ignore him. And chances are you might see it as a Bollywood movie soon. ( Rumour says Ekta Kapoor is producing it.....go figure).
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