Why I Hate Beggars

When I was younger, I used to feel sorry for them. It was incomprehensible to me that anyone would want to beg. And so, I concluded, they were forced to it. And perhaps, for those hard times, it was true.

Even now, the sight of a child or a cripple begging usually does move me. Yet, much as it saddens me to see them sometimes, I never reach into my bag for money. Food, maybe, if I have any about me. I also once carried clothes to a woman who seemed to need them. I have never seen her wear what I gave her – but, as the Guy said, even if she sold them to buy something she needs more, it's fine. That's perhaps the same as giving money, but I couldn't pass her every morning and not do anything. She seemed mentally disturbed and as helpless as a child. I know I have done little – perhaps less than nothing. And that is also why I refrain from paying to a beggar – the little I can give will not improve her life, and is perhaps likely to encourage her to not improve it on her own.

The sight of healthy, usually young, men and women with outstretched arms infuriate me. This is a prosperous city, where I will assume work is easily to be found. I should know – I have been looking for a maid the past two months and not found one. I would be willing to pay one of them to clean my house. I thought once of asking a woman begging on my street if she would like that. But I realised she had already made her decision.

It incenses me not only because I work for a living, but because so many people who have had few advantages in life, do. There are maids and vegetable vendors and construction workers. I do not imagine you need qualifications to work as one of these. I cannot believe that a booming city has more than enough of such workers.

I would much rather pay higher wages to a maid for work she does, than to a beggar for not working.

How often have you seen a blind man or cripple being lead by a healthy person who is begging on his behalf? Instead of using the disabled person as a crutch to support themselves, why can't the healthy person work to support the two of them? Is it because begging is more lucrative? Is it because it's easier?

It makes me even angrier to see mothers with young children, using their children as an excuse. Once, I cried out to a woman with an infant in her arms, "Did you consult me before you had the child? Why can't you work to feed him? If I had children, would I come to you for help feeding them?"

The Guy gently admonished me at expecting the woman to have that much sense. But it appalls me what those mothers are teaching their kids.

It makes me feel mean, sometimes, to pass by and not offer a note that I would not even miss. But most of all, it makes me angry. That they never ask for work, only for money.

Retaliation

I have shuddered every time I have heard of an incidence of violence in Assam. I have been overcome by shame, sometimes, at the attitudes of people from my home state when they attempted to defend or justify the violence. I have been apalled at the antics of one of Assam's most celebrated writers, a Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi Awardee, who glosses over the atrocities of the terrorists and keeps asking the government to make its peace with them.

But today, I have smiled at the courage that a few students displayed when they reacted to another tragic crime. Given that they studied in a Hindi medium school, these students were probably not "Assamese" in the generally-used meaning of the term. And no, I am not suggesting that violence should counter violence. But in the circumstances, I think these students acted in the most courageous and perhaps, most natural, way. And it is this spirit, this courage, that can bring peace and prosperity to Assam, in a way no government, no politician, no outsider can.

How I Forgave Vishal Bharadwaj

I have finally forgiven Vishal Bharadwaj for making Omkara.

The reason I was so disappointed with the man was because I so admired him. Because he had made a perfect gem in Maqbool. So it was a big disillusionment when Omkara turned out melodramatic and commercial. I should have expected it, with the stars it had, instead of actors like Irrfan and Pankaj Kapoor in Maqbool. Yet, with my reverence for Vishal Bharadwaj, I had hoped against my reason. And came away disappointed at the histrionics that stopped short of acting, the melodrama that stopped short of feeling, the hype that overshadowed the story.

And then one day I played the music of Omkara in a few leisure moments at home – obviously whatever objections I have to the movie do not extend to the music. As I heard a beautiful, unfamiliar voice sing, I picked up the cassette cover to discover the singer. I saw that it was Bharadwaj himself. And was floored by the amazing talent of the man.

As his mesmerising voice mellowed my feelings, I reminded myself that Omkara had enjoyed a success Maqbool could never aspire to. It not only earned a lot of money, but also a great deal of critical acclaim. In fact, I haven’t yet heard an unfavourable word about the movie: you’d think the Guy and I were the only people who were disappointed in it.

Why should I be angry with Vishal Bharadwaj for making a movie that was a success by every parameter? Why should I criticise him for wanting to be successful? After all, Omkara earned him the recognition his earlier movies never had. Why should I grudge him that? Why should I blame him for giving people what they want? After all, no one seemed to have liked Maqbool as much as I had. I had watched thunderstruck as it unfolded on the screen, thinking more than once, “Shakespeare would have smiled.” It seemed to have captured the spirit while casually discarding the body of Macbeth. It is only if you are acquainted with the play that you can truly appreciate the movie. Omkara, in contrast, felt like a laboured translation for minds that would never meet the original.

And then maybe, just maybe, he knew very well he was doing. Maybe he was cocking a snook at all of us, deliberately making a movie that everyone would praise, and laughing in his sleeve all the while. Maybe he wanted to direct "stars", most of who never got much further from acting themselves, and make a movie that was talked about. Maybe he is laughing at us all the while. I would be happier if I could believe that.

I still wish Omkara had been able to measure up to Maqbool. I still wish it had been a piece of art rather than a popular movie. I compare it with the subtlety of Maqbool and the delightfulness of Makdee, and grieve that he is more likely to be known as the maker of Omkara than of the other two.

But I forgive him. An artist too needs money to live and create with, and praise to live on. If making an Omkara allows him to live another day and make another Maqbool, so be it. If it is a price he is willing to pay, why should I complain? After all, he made an Omkara, not a Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham or even a Corporate. I was disappointed in Omkara because it was his movie – if Karan Johar had made it, I would have called it brilliant.

So I forgive Vishal Bharadwaj. Because his voice moved me. Because he makes beautiful music. Because however many popular movies he makes, he has given me one Maqbool.

I'm here...

In another day, it would have been a month since I last posted. No, I wasn't incommunicado or ill. But what with lots of work, relatives visiting, and weather too hot to think in, I've been using the little free time I've had reading and playing games on the comp - to try to relax my mind and not tax it further.

I haven't stopped thinking about this space, however. I've written at least half a dozen blog posts in my head. Give me some time while I gather the patience to remember all of that and write it down.

Apologies to all (any?) who have visited this space in the interval, hoping to find something new. Keep checking back in the next few days and you will (hopefully) not be disappointed. With the Guy away, I should get some time for my other love.