Notes from Ramadan

“Maaf thaiv”, this is my most spoken word these days, “Maaf thaiv”, “Maaf thaiv”, I utter again, but even then I get the most horrific look from the person which makes feel like I have committed some grave crime.  Even after parting with a rupee coin which had been lying eternally in the pocket can’t convince the person and still maintains the same look. Then I take out a five rupee coin lying in a small pocket of the wallet, this has some effect on the person which makes him move. The beggars seem to be at every place in the month of Ramadan. They are masters in the way of dressing and masters in the way of begging and the come in every shape and sizes, Kashmiri, non-Kashmiri, blind, maimed, perfectly alright, aggressive, nicely dressed, in burka, pleading or even demanding. They have taken up every street in Srinagar. With little research I found out that there are five types of beggars.

Professionals

Seasonal

Occasional

Immigrants

And not necessary everyone is poor; one beggar I have seen rides in auto rickshaw, but still wears only a dirty pheran without a shalwar or trouser.

The most frightful experience is when you are literally attacked by small kids, mostly outsiders, who nearly hijack you. They gather around, and then hold you by your clothes not letting you move even an inch, crying, weeping. You have to immediately shell of some money or else they won’t let you go. Had this kind of experience nearly a year ago at Jehangir Chowk, it was virtual kidnapping in front of a crowd and then paying a ransom to buy a release. These gangs usually have small children and a woman, presumed to be their mother. If someone tries to brush away these kids or scold them, the presumed mother comes and starts a melodama, accusing the person of Human Rights Abuse and then the person has to shell out double the amount.

People except me are generous in giving alms, and this has made begging a viable business. Sometimes my people say “Give to one, who asks in Allah’s name”, but it seems like a marketing gimmick started by the beggars themselves, never came across such thing in the holy Quran or Hadith. People take this as a shortcut to Jannat, and in Ramadan good deeds do get multiplied by 70. So here is some mathematics.

If a person gives one rupee and get one savaab

In Ramadan one rupee fetches seventy savaabs

Ten rupee fetches (10 X 70 = 700 savaabs)

There is nothing like buying a plot in Jannat, vicious beggars are just exploiting poor people.

Kashmir Selected Nonsense 07:01:00