The Beggar Girl ..

This is the story of almost five years back. I was sitting at the corner of the bench at bus stand, waiting for the bus. I saw other side of the road; a small girl was pulling a bag from the hand of the old man who was carrying it. The bag contained fresh vegetable and the old man was struggling to free the bag from the hand of that small girl. I thought the small girl might be relative of the man wanting to get something from the market and to put pressure on him she was doing like that. I saw the helpless sweating face of the man, speaking something to that girl, then he took out some coins from the pocket and gave that to her. She collected the coins from that man and ran towards the bus stand. I laughed to see her audacious behavior, and she noticed my laugh. When she came near to me, then I realized that girl was a beggar. The beggar girl was around eight or nine years old, she was in dirty cloths, carrying a small cloth bag at her back and her appearance was repulsive.  The innocence and divine smile that generally found in the eight or nine year’s kid , that was missing in her instead there was a stubbornness and rigidity on her face.


She came to me, stroke at my hand and asked for money.  I pretended to ignore her existence. She hit at my hand three to four times but I did not notice it. When she saw, her all tactics failed, she put her small hand on my thigh and started running her finger on it. It was very unexpected and obscene act and I rebuked her very loudly.  However, she did not go immediately. She waited there for almost two minutes and when she felt I would not give her alms, she left the place murmuring something. There was hostility towards me in her eyes. After this incident, few times, I saw her begging at bus stand, but she never bothered me.


Almost two years back, one of my friends had come to stay with me for few days. He used to go for evening walk every day. One day I accompanied him and both of us took the road from the bus stand and walked almost five kilometers. While returning I felt bit hungry, stopped at a small shop, drank a glass of water and purchased few packets of snacks. We were walking and having that snacks. Suddenly somebody snatched the packets from the hand and ran opposite of us. When I turned my head, I saw the same beggar girl with few other kids. There was a triumphant smile on her face. I was angry but I let her go.

This is the incidence of one and half years ago. It was around 10 o’clock night.  I was returning from the market   from public transport and there were hardly eight to ten passengers in the bus. Before two kilometers from the bus stand, the Bus officials stopped the bus for ticket check. I was at window seat, showed my ticket to the official and looked outside through window. There were many trees and brushes opposite of the road. My eyes stopped at one brushes, the street light was making that brushes almost visible. What I saw, I was unable to digest. I saw the beggar girl was in compromising position with a boy. I could not see the boy’s face but he was looking around twenty-five years old. I turned around to see, if anybody noticed in the bus what just now I saw.  One student, sitting behind my seat, was seeing the brushes side only.  When he saw I was looking at him, immediately he turned his eyes from that direction.


That night I could not sleep. The beggar girl was whole night in my night. Is she a part of beggar racket? Is she into prostitution? Is she working for any anti social element? Or she just a teenager from the deprived class? I remember, when I saw her first time five years ago, that day also she occupied my mind for some time. I checked few websites who could help such girls but did not find concrete answer. I asked that day, as an individual could I do anything for her. There were many answers of this question. But I found out that it is very easy to have just sympathy and concerned for deprived section than to become a real doer.  It needs guts, grit and determination to become a real doer and unfortunately many of us, despite of good intention fail to do so.

~~~ Ramanuj Dubey