Triumph and Heartache in India with teens
Apr 5th, 2011, 09:45 AM
#22
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happy, while waiting for webmaster dogster to surface from his perpetual website beautification projects, you can do some background reading at
www.thedogster.wordpress.com
www.thedogster.wordpress.com
Apr 5th, 2011, 10:39 AM
#23
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Me too, Dogster.
My apologies if I am hijacking this post or going off on a tangent but I really want to know about this. However, if this should be a separate post, let me know as I don't want to wreck up Happytotravel's excellent thread with my late night disjointed ramblings.
I well realize that I may be naive on the matter of beggars. I just can't help myself. When at the water village restaurant on China , myself and the three girls who took me under their wing, were seated at a window and a woman was peering through and watching us eat enviously. She did look hungry. I asked to the girls why and they just shrugged and said she probably couldn't afford to eat here and then just ignored her. I think they were a bit embarrassed as they had apologized for things they thought might “disappoint” me before. Now his woman didn't look starved but I felt so sorry for her. Had I been on my own , I think I would have paid for a meal for her.
I know I am a soft touch though I am hardly in a position to fling around wads of cash either. But I still fell bad about that lady and the shoe shine guy I knocked back as well.(Another story!) While these may not be exactly the same situation , I do feel sorry for people whose lives may be such a day to day struggle.
In Vietnam, a woman came up to a group of us Aussies briefly stopping over in transit .We were deep in conversation and didn't notice her coming. She was selling lottery tickets. We refused but, as we watched her leave, we could see that she was quite severely mobility disabled so I chased after her and gave her some money. Had she not been so disabled, I doubt I would have.
I may be prejudiced as I have had bouts of severe illness when on my own and remember tearfully saying to the doctor that , without the Disability Pension, I would starve and be homeless. Other countries just don't have that luxury of assistance to fall back on.
I usually just give enough for a meal or I buy food and give it to the person and I usually only give to the elderly or disabled. But I very much agree that the best way to donate is through a reputable charity, preferably one you can actually visit. But I daresay that even some organized charities are primarily there to line the pockets of the management. You take a risk but is it a “good” risk?
So, would the "rightness" of the decision to give vary from country to country or even beggar to beggar? Is it OK if the people are obviously disabled? Are there many countries or beggars controlled by local mafias? What if you are in a country where there is virtually no infrastructure in place to assist the poor and disabled? I know I may be being conned, at least some of the time but I am prepared to take that risk if I can make someone else feel better. So, am I really causing more problems for the victims of poverty or just making myself feel better, or what?
My apologies if I am hijacking this post or going off on a tangent but I really want to know about this. However, if this should be a separate post, let me know as I don't want to wreck up Happytotravel's excellent thread with my late night disjointed ramblings.
I well realize that I may be naive on the matter of beggars. I just can't help myself. When at the water village restaurant on China , myself and the three girls who took me under their wing, were seated at a window and a woman was peering through and watching us eat enviously. She did look hungry. I asked to the girls why and they just shrugged and said she probably couldn't afford to eat here and then just ignored her. I think they were a bit embarrassed as they had apologized for things they thought might “disappoint” me before. Now his woman didn't look starved but I felt so sorry for her. Had I been on my own , I think I would have paid for a meal for her.
I know I am a soft touch though I am hardly in a position to fling around wads of cash either. But I still fell bad about that lady and the shoe shine guy I knocked back as well.(Another story!) While these may not be exactly the same situation , I do feel sorry for people whose lives may be such a day to day struggle.
In Vietnam, a woman came up to a group of us Aussies briefly stopping over in transit .We were deep in conversation and didn't notice her coming. She was selling lottery tickets. We refused but, as we watched her leave, we could see that she was quite severely mobility disabled so I chased after her and gave her some money. Had she not been so disabled, I doubt I would have.
I may be prejudiced as I have had bouts of severe illness when on my own and remember tearfully saying to the doctor that , without the Disability Pension, I would starve and be homeless. Other countries just don't have that luxury of assistance to fall back on.
I usually just give enough for a meal or I buy food and give it to the person and I usually only give to the elderly or disabled. But I very much agree that the best way to donate is through a reputable charity, preferably one you can actually visit. But I daresay that even some organized charities are primarily there to line the pockets of the management. You take a risk but is it a “good” risk?
So, would the "rightness" of the decision to give vary from country to country or even beggar to beggar? Is it OK if the people are obviously disabled? Are there many countries or beggars controlled by local mafias? What if you are in a country where there is virtually no infrastructure in place to assist the poor and disabled? I know I may be being conned, at least some of the time but I am prepared to take that risk if I can make someone else feel better. So, am I really causing more problems for the victims of poverty or just making myself feel better, or what?
Apr 5th, 2011, 12:38 PM
#25
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Thank you Marija, for the publicity. 'Tis true; every day a new wonder in the website...
The story is from 'Twilight at the Apollo'. for the whole thing, lest you become distracted by the boggling visual fiesta of my site, just go here:
http://thedogster.wordpress.com/mumbai-home-page/
and follow your nose.
In response to my three fans, here's an extract:
The story is from 'Twilight at the Apollo'. for the whole thing, lest you become distracted by the boggling visual fiesta of my site, just go here:
http://thedogster.wordpress.com/mumbai-home-page/
and follow your nose.
In response to my three fans, here's an extract:
Apr 5th, 2011, 12:41 PM
#26
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*
An elderly man with carnivorous eyes stood nearby, rather elegantly draped in a grey kurta. Perched on top of his wrinkled head was a pure white Nehru hat. The man was a genius.
'He’s the boss of the beggars.’
Faced with the growing fact that there were now more tourists in Colaba than low-life to live off them, this man had a brilliantly simple idea – he would import more beggars. He made the long trip home and made his Bihar village a proposition for a new local industry – they should grow beggars and export them to Bombay.
It would be a syndicate, a co-operative scheme; six months in Mumbai, pool the proceeds, guaranteed food and lodging, a weekly stipend and the profit as a bonus once they came home. Everybody was an earner. He needed cute kids and filthy babies, women who could be pleading mothers by day and whores by night and he needed a couple of old women to keep them in order. The men were of no use to him, there was more than enough dumb testosterone in Colaba – they stayed back on the farm.
Bihar was in the beggar business.
‘He brings them in, two teams each season, fifty people a team,’ Bongo said, ‘there’s another group down that end of town…’
His émigrés thrived in Mumbai – conditions on the street in Mumbai were much better than life in their village at home. That they lived in chaos seemed not to disturb them; that they created chaos seemed not to disturb them; that their combined efforts drove tourists crazy seems not to have occurred at all. Indeed, they loved their work. They hit town like roadies at a rock-concert, sweeping the stadium clean of rivals, maintaining their territory with professional ferocity.
The Beggars of Bihar grew into a phenomenon. They went out and did their duty every day without fail, reducing visitors to gibbering rage for a business – all because of the man in the white Nehru hat.
‘Now he owns three hotels and a block of apartments,’ Bongo whispered.
Like I said, he was a genius. He’d discovered a job that even a baby could perform. All anyone had to do was be born, be dirty and sit on the street.
*
An elderly man with carnivorous eyes stood nearby, rather elegantly draped in a grey kurta. Perched on top of his wrinkled head was a pure white Nehru hat. The man was a genius.
'He’s the boss of the beggars.’
Faced with the growing fact that there were now more tourists in Colaba than low-life to live off them, this man had a brilliantly simple idea – he would import more beggars. He made the long trip home and made his Bihar village a proposition for a new local industry – they should grow beggars and export them to Bombay.
It would be a syndicate, a co-operative scheme; six months in Mumbai, pool the proceeds, guaranteed food and lodging, a weekly stipend and the profit as a bonus once they came home. Everybody was an earner. He needed cute kids and filthy babies, women who could be pleading mothers by day and whores by night and he needed a couple of old women to keep them in order. The men were of no use to him, there was more than enough dumb testosterone in Colaba – they stayed back on the farm.
Bihar was in the beggar business.
‘He brings them in, two teams each season, fifty people a team,’ Bongo said, ‘there’s another group down that end of town…’
His émigrés thrived in Mumbai – conditions on the street in Mumbai were much better than life in their village at home. That they lived in chaos seemed not to disturb them; that they created chaos seemed not to disturb them; that their combined efforts drove tourists crazy seems not to have occurred at all. Indeed, they loved their work. They hit town like roadies at a rock-concert, sweeping the stadium clean of rivals, maintaining their territory with professional ferocity.
The Beggars of Bihar grew into a phenomenon. They went out and did their duty every day without fail, reducing visitors to gibbering rage for a business – all because of the man in the white Nehru hat.
‘Now he owns three hotels and a block of apartments,’ Bongo whispered.
Like I said, he was a genius. He’d discovered a job that even a baby could perform. All anyone had to do was be born, be dirty and sit on the street.
*
Apr 5th, 2011, 12:43 PM
#27
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This is fun, too.
http://thedogster1.wordpress.com/3-d...ria-de-colaba/
http://thedogster1.wordpress.com/3-d...ria-de-colaba/
Apr 5th, 2011, 01:19 PM
#28
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Dame Gloria --LOL!!! Dear Dogster, Count me as Fan #4.
Similar occurrence in a quite UNfriendly village in Kerala (Yeah, they are all supposed to be friendly, but this one was not.)
We were walking through the village with a friend, a tall Englishman of Jamaican heritage. A beggar, in a combination of curiosity with black skin, physical height, and baksheesh-seeking, limped toward us, grabbed onto the Englishman's arm and would not let go.
Our friend quickly gave up on the polite method, glared down at Sir Beggar, shook him off, and then, in a showy purging ceremony, took out a bottle of hand de-germer gel from his backpack and elegantly massaged it on his arms where the beggars's touch had been felt. Lord knows what the beggar thought. Friend was past the point of caring about hurt feelings.
It is interesting how the usual behaviors, sensitivities, and value become irrelevant in some situations. And this is from someone (me) teased by the Dog (an honor!) for tipping too generously!!
Similar occurrence in a quite UNfriendly village in Kerala (Yeah, they are all supposed to be friendly, but this one was not.)
We were walking through the village with a friend, a tall Englishman of Jamaican heritage. A beggar, in a combination of curiosity with black skin, physical height, and baksheesh-seeking, limped toward us, grabbed onto the Englishman's arm and would not let go.
Our friend quickly gave up on the polite method, glared down at Sir Beggar, shook him off, and then, in a showy purging ceremony, took out a bottle of hand de-germer gel from his backpack and elegantly massaged it on his arms where the beggars's touch had been felt. Lord knows what the beggar thought. Friend was past the point of caring about hurt feelings.
It is interesting how the usual behaviors, sensitivities, and value become irrelevant in some situations. And this is from someone (me) teased by the Dog (an honor!) for tipping too generously!!
Apr 6th, 2011, 10:31 AM
#31
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In Bhutan the children ask you to take their photos and then love to look at the playback AND they did not ask or expect anything else in return. No bon-bon, no money, no pen. What a pleasure. I do hope this tradition continues. It is tempting to want to give these cute kids something, but that will set up expectations for the future. Our very large bag of granola bars was kept intact (except by my grandkids) and finally given as an offering to a school at a stupa.
Apr 6th, 2011, 03:03 PM
#32
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happytotravel: Did you see "Slumdog Millionaire"? The central theme is poor children who are exploited by criminals.
We were approached several times by men or women holding sleeping infants, always sleeping (I suspect they were drugged). The "parent" held a filthy baby bottle and banged it against the car window.
That said, India was the best place I've ever visited, but the most difficult. I did have to wait until three hours before my flight until I could get into the main airport. That was the old airport, though, in Dec. 2009 and I don't know how it works now. Security check by the Indians in the airport, security check again by Continental at the gate when I boarded.
thursdaysd: Dehydration packets! Great idea!
We were approached several times by men or women holding sleeping infants, always sleeping (I suspect they were drugged). The "parent" held a filthy baby bottle and banged it against the car window.
That said, India was the best place I've ever visited, but the most difficult. I did have to wait until three hours before my flight until I could get into the main airport. That was the old airport, though, in Dec. 2009 and I don't know how it works now. Security check by the Indians in the airport, security check again by Continental at the gate when I boarded.
thursdaysd: Dehydration packets! Great idea!
Apr 14th, 2011, 11:52 AM
#34
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Glad to hear your son is doing ok...Did you every figure out what made him sick? Esp. since none of the rest of you had any ill effects. Some times this is helpfull info for others also. I recently had a case of VERY bad food poisening in Vietman. If all else fails sipping flat coke, and I mean small sips finally kept me hydrated enough to get thru it. Sometimes Immodium and other similar drugs just keep the bug/germ what ever in your system. But dehydration is a big problem in the heat also.
Apr 15th, 2011, 07:14 AM
#36
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kmkrnn: We don't know what caused my son to be sick, my husband had a bout of stomach illness when we got home for about a week. He took Cipro for it. My daughter and I ate only vegetarian items, but DH and DS ate a lot of chicken, so maybe chicken was the culprit. We were really careful only using bottled water for everything, so I don't think it was the water. The sad thing was, that my son was so looking forward to McDonalds, and that was his last meal before the illness, he says even it was not the cause, he never wants McDonalds again.
When I took my son to the doctor here, he was really surprised that my son recovered so quickly, and he was impressed with the high quality drugs he was given. So I need to give a big thank you to the Indian doctor.
When I took my son to the doctor here, he was really surprised that my son recovered so quickly, and he was impressed with the high quality drugs he was given. So I need to give a big thank you to the Indian doctor.
Apr 15th, 2011, 07:35 AM
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I ate chicken at the restaurant at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. It kinda looked greenish to me so I only ate one bite. Very, very sick next night in Viet Nam. So sick I was scared, but by next day had gotten it out of my system. Only ate flat Coke (the cola) and salted crackers for 24 hours. Moral of the story...maybe chicken is not good idea. Well cooked vegetarian is food of choice in much of Asia.
Apr 15th, 2011, 08:10 AM
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Thank you so much for your report. So glad you are all OK now. It's really strange, but I wrote a long post here right after you wrote about going to McDonalds and wrote on and on about how I had always wanted to go to India, but, was so frightened of getting sick as I have a "touchy" tummy and I had never known anyone who had gone to India and were able to get back home without at least one family member having severe tummy issues. In fact our son went 6 years ago, got very very sick and, to this day has digestive issues which I feel were initiated by this illness. Anyway, after I read all I had written (and I asked if you had managed to escape without any stomach issues) I wiped the whole thing out as it sounded a bit negative so I didn't send it. When you picked up the account of your trip again, I read then of the awful situation you encountered I must confess, it made me realize that I should not go. Our daughter also spent a month in India and got really ill, she recommended that Shri Lanka (Ceylon) might suit us better. DH and I have traveled to the Far East several times and for the most part we have been fine other than picking up noro virus on the JAL flight on the way over (ugh, several hours having sprung for biz class seats spending it at 36,000 ft in the loo!)
Appreciate your sharing your story, and, glad that you are all back to normal now.
Appreciate your sharing your story, and, glad that you are all back to normal now.
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