Right to Choose

This morning something happened on the pavement that not only disturbed me but also set me thinking a lot…

I was on my way to the local shop with my daughter to buy some insignificant groceries…on my way there I spotted a person lying on the pavement and what caught my attention were the flies swarming all over him like a moth is attracted to the fire… For a minute my heart sank when I saw this pathetic sight…then I slowly observed the things around him: a smashed utensil on a ragged cloth, few archaic coins… the first thought was to drop a coin myself but I have always been against giving money and would rather get them some food.

This time around was no different…I bought the stuff I needed from the shop and then got a packet of pav (for the uninitiated, it’s the poor man’s bread in this part of the world where I live) for this vagabond. To be honest, I was feeling a little happy that I didn’t give in to the temptation of giving him money and moving on. Few minutes later, I found myself standing in front of this hobo, handing him the packet I had bought. The man looked at it, gave it one disapproving look and kept it aside!! I asked him what happened… in the most unflinching manner he said. ‘I don't want to eat this’.

I was initially not just shocked but angry! How could he refuse what I gave him! Seething with anger, I kept telling myself on the way home that beggars can’t be choosers! After a while when I calmed down, something struck me.

Why can’t a beggar have the right to choose? Just because he does not have the opportunity to get himself what he wants should people deny him his right to choose what he wants to eat?? Why did I have to impose my choice on him? Maybe if I had given him money he would have bought what he wanted to eat. Yes, I am also aware that they also buy things like liquor and beedi (local Indian cigarettes) and waste the money…

But what the hell, it’s his life and he has the right to lead it the way he wants to.