Posts
Last year, one of my friends who is research officer
in a national institution, was coordinating the research study on “Improvished
beggary in India”. One day He discussed the topic with me and asked my views on
it. We had healthy discussion on this subject and we had many suggestions to
ameliorate the condition of beggar and eradicate the beggary from our country.
That night I pondered over many points we discussed and realized that though we
were pretending to be expert on this subject but we knew very little about the beggars’
life and their point of view on their problems. I decided to interact, observe,
spend some time with beggar to understand them. I requested my friend; if
possible make me the part of study. He assured me that he would inform me when
field study would start in Hyderabad area and make me the part of the study.
This communication took place between us in first week of July, last year. I
was enthusiastic about this study and thought to interact with beggars whenever
possible.
I started interacting with beggars every day. Whenever I would go outside, if I was free and if I would see any beggar at / around bust stand, nearby shopping mall, multiplex, cinema hall, ration shop, temple , mosque, railway station, street , park, under bridge , near metro station, school, college ,university, hotel, restaurant , near cultural centre , historical place , monument , I would certainly interact with them. Every day I would interact with at least one beggar. My intention was to know how they see their life, what opinion / views they have about various aspects of life and society. Meanwhile my friend called me for field study on “Improvished beggary in India” in last week of October. We had to take the response of beggars on the questionnaire sheet in the field, and study their conditions .I worked eight days (officially six days) for this study. During the study, I had differences on some issues with my friend and I withdrew myself from the study. I started this exercise in mid July last year and after withdrawing from the study, I continued to interact with beggars whenever I got opportunity. One day in mid November last year, I read in the newspaper that local administrator decided to remove beggars from Hyderabad municipal area. That was the last day I interacted with the beggar. I discontinued which had become the part of routine.
During three months, I interacted with one hundred three (103) beggars. Out of 103 beggars, 72 beggars were male and 31 beggars were female. 64 beggars came Hyderabad from outside. Most of them were from neighboring districts and states. 39 beggars were living in Hyderabad either with family or alone from long and they did not have any other place to go. All 103 beggars had religion, Out of 103 beggars, 68 beggars were Hindu, 29 beggars were Muslim and 6 beggars were Christian. 14 beggars were physically handicapped, 8 beggars were suffering from chronic disease and 3 beggars were mentally handicapped. Out of 103 beggars, 54 beggars were illiterate, 34 beggars were sixth pass and below, 9 beggars were eighth pass , 4 beggars were tenth pass ,one beggar was intermediate and one beggar was graduate . All women beggars were either illiterate or below sixth standard pass. Out of 31 women beggars I had interacted, 24 beggars were widow, 2 beggars were abandoned by husband, 5 beggars were married but their husbands (drunkard/ sick/ physically handicapped/ aged) were unable to look after them.
My interaction with beggars ranged from five minutes to more than two hours. I had two kinds of interactions with beggars during those three months. First one, I would approach to them, would ask about any question and engage them in talk and discuss about issues related to them, listen their reaction and make a mental note of everything. After coming to my place, I would write the experience in my notebook. Second, one was documenting beggars’ response on questionnaire sheet. Though questionnaire mode has many benefits for study point of view but I observed that many beggars used to be nervous or feel something fishy when their personnel information were documented. Around 12 beggars refused to tell about themselves and did not want to share their story as they had fear that if their particulars were documented and sent to government official, they would be removed from the city and sent back to their place.
Recently I collected the stories and data from all the notes that I had written during the three months period of mid July- mid November 2017. I analyzed the interaction and tried to write only those points, which were not the part of questionnaire of the study. Though these are very simple points but these points helped me to understand beggars' life better. Fair copy of diary notes and analysis of interaction, I am going to publish in my few blog posts.
~~~ Ramanuj Dubey
I started interacting with beggars every day. Whenever I would go outside, if I was free and if I would see any beggar at / around bust stand, nearby shopping mall, multiplex, cinema hall, ration shop, temple , mosque, railway station, street , park, under bridge , near metro station, school, college ,university, hotel, restaurant , near cultural centre , historical place , monument , I would certainly interact with them. Every day I would interact with at least one beggar. My intention was to know how they see their life, what opinion / views they have about various aspects of life and society. Meanwhile my friend called me for field study on “Improvished beggary in India” in last week of October. We had to take the response of beggars on the questionnaire sheet in the field, and study their conditions .I worked eight days (officially six days) for this study. During the study, I had differences on some issues with my friend and I withdrew myself from the study. I started this exercise in mid July last year and after withdrawing from the study, I continued to interact with beggars whenever I got opportunity. One day in mid November last year, I read in the newspaper that local administrator decided to remove beggars from Hyderabad municipal area. That was the last day I interacted with the beggar. I discontinued which had become the part of routine.
During three months, I interacted with one hundred three (103) beggars. Out of 103 beggars, 72 beggars were male and 31 beggars were female. 64 beggars came Hyderabad from outside. Most of them were from neighboring districts and states. 39 beggars were living in Hyderabad either with family or alone from long and they did not have any other place to go. All 103 beggars had religion, Out of 103 beggars, 68 beggars were Hindu, 29 beggars were Muslim and 6 beggars were Christian. 14 beggars were physically handicapped, 8 beggars were suffering from chronic disease and 3 beggars were mentally handicapped. Out of 103 beggars, 54 beggars were illiterate, 34 beggars were sixth pass and below, 9 beggars were eighth pass , 4 beggars were tenth pass ,one beggar was intermediate and one beggar was graduate . All women beggars were either illiterate or below sixth standard pass. Out of 31 women beggars I had interacted, 24 beggars were widow, 2 beggars were abandoned by husband, 5 beggars were married but their husbands (drunkard/ sick/ physically handicapped/ aged) were unable to look after them.
My interaction with beggars ranged from five minutes to more than two hours. I had two kinds of interactions with beggars during those three months. First one, I would approach to them, would ask about any question and engage them in talk and discuss about issues related to them, listen their reaction and make a mental note of everything. After coming to my place, I would write the experience in my notebook. Second, one was documenting beggars’ response on questionnaire sheet. Though questionnaire mode has many benefits for study point of view but I observed that many beggars used to be nervous or feel something fishy when their personnel information were documented. Around 12 beggars refused to tell about themselves and did not want to share their story as they had fear that if their particulars were documented and sent to government official, they would be removed from the city and sent back to their place.
Recently I collected the stories and data from all the notes that I had written during the three months period of mid July- mid November 2017. I analyzed the interaction and tried to write only those points, which were not the part of questionnaire of the study. Though these are very simple points but these points helped me to understand beggars' life better. Fair copy of diary notes and analysis of interaction, I am going to publish in my few blog posts.
~~~ Ramanuj Dubey
No comments:
Post a Comment