One Glass of Water Denied

Like every other day, I was waiting for my train at Dadar station today morning when a beggar approached me and asked for 5 rupees. In a matter-of-fact tone I waved my head, said ‘no’ and moved away from him while he completed his sentence ‘5 rupaye ka nimbu pani pila do’ (Buy me a lime-water costing 5 rupees). I didn’t give it a second thought and got on the first class compartment of the train which had just come to a halt on the platform.

I looked back at the beggar. He looked young, with a little shabby clothing and a cap. He was now approaching other people with his request. At that moment I actually gave heed to what he had said and realised that he hadn’t asked for money; he had asked for water.

It had been a genuine request.

‘Never say no to anyone for water’, I remembered my mother telling me a long time ago when I was in Primary school, had gone for a class picnic and hadn’t shared my bottle of water with a friend.

Before my slow-processing-morning-mind could change its course of actions, the train started moving and gave me a good excuse not to look back at the beggar. Right at that moment I knew the thought of this guy wouldn’t go out of my head easily.

 

I moved a little inside the compartment to avoid the heat from the sun entering through the train doors. Thankfully the fans were working and this was not one of the old rake trains that I was in.

5 minutes later, I got down at Lower Parel station and made my way to my workplace, grabbing a vada-pao on the way. The thoughts of the beggar were washed aside as work took its place. It wasn’t until the evening that the picture of the beggar came rushing back to my head.

I had moved away from the guy without even thinking because that’s what we always do- we ignore beggars. We roll up the car windows when one approaches us at a red light. Because begging in the metros of India is one huge business. Because I have seen films like Traffic Signal. Because we do not believe that any kind of begging could be genuine. Because we have experienced or have heard of people getting duped by beggars.

But right now one thought kept haunting me. This guy had not asked for money. Money could have bought him tobacco or drugs or anything else. He had simply asked me to get him a glass of limewater that costed Rs. 5. Spending the 5 bucks wouldn’t hurt my pocket at all. Even if the beggar had asked for money and I had given it to him, it wouldn’t have done me any harm. In fact, I would have done an act of kindness (or foolishness?) and no thought would have bothered me. Most importantly, I wouldn’t be writing all this.

But I had chosen to ignore him.

And here I stood in the crowded local train on my way back home, where the fans switched off for a few seconds and I started sweating profusely in the heat, and kept thinking: Probably the guy desperately needed that one glass of water that I denied to him.

What would you have done in my situation?

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PS: The state of Maharashtra, including areas in-and-around Mumbai, is one of 10 states of India, that is facing severe water crisis and drought conditions right now in the peak of summer with one-fourth of the Indian population affected. It might not affect you directly, but do keep the thought of those people in mind who are travelling miles every single morning or paying thousands of rupees in black to private water tankers to have just enough water to drink for the day. Do not waste water- you never know when you or I might be in the dire need of a glass of water with no one to help.

Also note:  Begging in India is indeed categorised as a huge racket. It is difficult to differentiate genuine requests from ones that would dupe you. And this is why people tend to stay away from it. Stay cautious.