Bowled Over ! :-|  

Posted by KC

Last sunday evening, i went to the Marina Beach , here in Chennai , for a get-together with my class mates ! Well , as usual , i landed up EARLY at the spot(which almost seems like a bad habit now to me) !! So while waiting for my other friends - i sat on the newly built side walk on the shore to enjoy some lone moments with Mama-Nature ! That's when three kids came up to the place where i was sitting with a Toy car and few stones and started playing their own version of Ten Pin Bowling ! :)



From their look - anyone could say that they were very poor and most probably orphans too ! But that did nt seem to affect their game as they proceeded to play like professionals !! :) After enjoying their game of Bowling - i was about to leave, when the youngest of the lot (the one with no clothes on) came to me begging for some money ! Well - i dont usually encourage beggars(who we have lotsss in India) by giving them money ! But then this time around- something urged me to reach my pockets and get them some change ! Maybe i was feeling very sorry for them or maybe the thought that these merry souls entertained and engaged me for the past 15 minutes !! As i left the place , thoughts of reality hung over me - the fact that like these 3 , there are still millions of such kids who beg to live here in India - a so called I.T Giant and developing nation - where many of its Children still beg to survive ! :-|

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 . You can leave a response and follow any responses to this entry through the Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) .

7 comments

Miss Elle  
September 11, 2008 at 1:08 PM

chum, you sound like a journalist here. hehe. but very enlightening post. someday chum, when you're a gazillionaire already, you can help them build a better future. hehe.

me too, i dont like giving money to beggars because they are given the notion that it's alright. its tantamount to just simply tolerating them.

i think the less fortunate dont deserve merely charitable acts from those of the higher class. they deserve social justice. my two cents worth.

KC  
September 11, 2008 at 1:16 PM

You dont have to be a Gazillionaire to help em gal :) Each of us can do what we can in very small ways !

And yeah , instead of giving money to these beggars , i ll give to some charity institution who take care of these destitutes !!

LOL.. Am souding like Lord Buddah already ! Lemme stop here :p

ßrigida Ayson © Copyright  
September 12, 2008 at 7:50 PM

I also don't encourage giving money to penniless beggars. Food is better, if that's what they really need. Otherwise, give them nothing. I'm not being hard or playing hard ball. It's just that giving them money will encourage them to ask for more and not work for it in return. That's even worst, right?

mhel  
September 12, 2008 at 10:33 PM

I agree with you all. Clearly giving alms is not the answer here. With over millions of street children worldwide these poor little kids are really in desperate need of help. As what you have said KC, charitable institution is one option. Or maybe we can start by reaching out to take part in any local programs in our community that deals with street children.

KC  
September 13, 2008 at 3:13 AM

@ Bridge

Exactly ! But its very difficult when the ones begging are these little 3 and 4 year olds - who are compelled to do it by their own parents or others !! :(

@ June

Hmmm, Right ! I was part of a Night school for street children when i was in school ! The problem we had there was - although the children loved to come to the classes , their parents or caretakers insisted that they did nt ! So this needs a complete change of attitude !

Mz. Common Sense  
September 13, 2008 at 10:24 AM

Reading this made me feel sad...I hate to hear about children who have to beg...

I don't like giving money to beggars because I don't feel right giving to one and not giving to them all...so the idea of donating to a charity sounds much better to me.

I donate my ill-fitting clothes and books to a homeless shelter.

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