The Least of These

"With love and grace you sustain the living, you support the falling, heal the sick, free those who are bound in captivity, and keep faith with those who sleep in the dust." The Amidah

The making of "Slumdog Millionaire" exposed many people to the reality of the begging industry in Calcutta and other parts of the world. When most of your knowledge of begging has been limited to panhandlers, seeing it on such a large scale and involving children and babies is something not soon forgotten even if you have seen the movie. I had the good fortune to have a sensitive and gifted guide over my first few days and while it did not make it any easier to watch, it did help me understand the Indian attitude towards it. India is a rich and fertile country and while over 60 percent of the population is illiterate and lives out of the cities, hunger is not the specter it is in other parts of the world and food is cheap and plentiful. Over the last few years there have been millions of refugees fleeing the floods in Bangladesh and they have strained the infrastructure of Calcutta especially. The general feeling among native Indians is that the largest number of beggars are from Bangladesh and are part of numerous for profit rings portrayed so vividly in the movie. There is great respect in India for anyone who has a job, no matter how modest it is and the engine of their economy still relies heavily upon the intiative of millions of individuals selling practically everything imaginable. I found a widespread belief the refugees are being exploited or are not taking advantage of the same opportunities available to them as to native Indians. I don't know if that is true. I do know if anything can prepare you to see young babies being held up or to realize that what you have in your purse is more than they may have in their lifetime. But after a while you realize how the hotels and the more popular tourist attractions are targeted and that begging is not found in the local markets. You begin to see past the revulsion and discomfort of being approached to see how the persons doing it have been trained to elicit compassion, even using the very same phrases and gestures. By and large it is a business. It is a terrible conundrum and the struggle to understand how to deal with it, a mighty one. The mission work of individuals such as Mother Theresa becomes much more significant when viewed at this level of existence for there is great need for relief efforts and reform in housing and health and schooling for millions of Indians in and out of the cities. Our solution to handling all of this was provided by our guides. They told us to take the fruit from our rooms and offer it instead of money for it would be something they could keep for themselves and to make as generous a contribution as we felt we could to any of the world relief or local Indian charities. It gave our conscience some short term relief, but we all knew the long term solution would require something far greater.

For more to ponder, please visit the link to my India Photo Journal.