Tuesday, December 21, 2010

the moment that couldn't be right

yesterday morning, i was heading home by train from my friend's place. surprisingly, bandra station was almost deserted for 8am, with no line for the tickets at all

i headed to the nearest counter, and dug in my pocket for change for the fare.

a beggar sitting below the window begged for a coin or two.

i shrugged him off.

and then dropped a coin, almost into his outstretched palm.

he offered to return it.

i shook my head. he kept it, expressionless.

my initial rationalization (at the moment i agreed to let him keep the coin) was that it was probably his luck or fate that caused me to drop the coin, so he kinda deserved it.

but then i realized that i also felt bad about taking money from a beggar.

as i walked away, i also felt i had been somehow disrespectful towards the beggar. it's one thing to give someone a coin (however misplaced the charity may be, as i believe, when it comes to beggars), but it's another to drop it on the ground and have him pick it up.

it felt as if i grudged the beggar his 1 buck.

i just don't know, i still can't think of anything i could have done, or any way to rationalize my course of action.

2 comments:

Sasidhar said...

It's easy. The experience taught you something.
Respect people irrespective of their status.

krist0ph3r said...

haha...i follow that! but how do you do it in this situation? what reaction could be construed as respectful?

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