Street Beggars

A permanent fixture in Delhi (and probably most other large, if not all, Indian cities) is the presence of street beggars. Families, children, disabled people, all hang out on street corners and at traffic lights asking waiting motorists and rickshaw passengers for change. Sometimes they try to hawk their merchandise – anything from magazines and books to Santa hats and Indian flags. I’ve been cautioned by several people here not give them money because many of them “work” for bosses that then take the money from them, but others look as if they have no other option and you can't help but to help, even in a very small way.

Without making a judgment on whether or not to give money, I wanted to share two of my personal experiences with beggars with exceptional negotiation skills and tactics.

• One evening in the back of a rickshaw, a beggar approached Ani asking for money. Ani reached into his pocket and pulled out a one rupee coin and gave it to him. The beggar then looked at the coin and asked for more! Ani gave him another one and he finally walked away satisfied.
• While waiting for our train to Goa to leave (and while sitting in Sleeper class), a young boy came up to me and literally wrapped himself around my ankle. Ani spoke to him in Hindi and told him to go away. He responded with “I’m talking to her, not to you!” Eventually, he left me alone, but I was impressed by his quip.