Friday 21 November 2008

Impressed

I happened to see some one like this today,physically challenged, busily drawing close to the main road in Madhapur. As a matter of fact, i have seen this person many a times on the same place, but never gave much thought about what he is doing . Today while passing by him again, i had a little thought and felt good about his act(drawing).

These days I see a lot of ppl and children begging in the traffic signals. Irrespective of however they beg (sometimes the kids touch our feet and beg), i never felt like giving anything.

This guy, though physically challenged, he chose to use his art to earn his bread rather than panhandling. I felt his intention should be something close to this (might not be also :-)). Instead of going around begging people for money, he wanted to show people his art\talent, there by letting the interested and impressed ones to donate if they wish.

I felt this one is far better than panhandling.I was impressed.

9 comments:

Shankar Srinivasan said...

As a child, I have seen this in Madras so many times.
On roads, pavements, near temples.. I remember seeing beatiful pictures of mythological characters..
good thing you saw this in madhapur and wrote a blog.
mavane, ithai foreign la than first time paarthen nu sonna, tension ayirupen..

b.t.w while talking about beggars..
Have you ever wondered why people beg?
Surely, there must be something that a person with a reasonably sound mind can do for someone else.
Some service or product, however small or insignificant which would make the life of someone else easier, lighter more enjoyable etc.
And that someone else would in turn be willing to trade something else ( time/money/effort/goods/services)in return.
This should give them something to live on, and probably build on and grow.

Can you guess some reasons for this?

Unknown said...

First the individual should know what service he will be able to provide to others.Second,the quality of the service the individual can provide. I have seen few people selling some small toys,ear buds etc. in signals rather than begging. But how many people buy such things from these people.The first question some one gets when they want to buy any of these items is the quality of the product and the worth for money.

So if some one can provide a quality service of any type, then ppl will be attracted for sure..

Deepan said...

VA partha effect konjam irukum pola .. i mean the dialogue "I am impressed". :) btw, these things are quite common in our areas la. as shankar told, i also have seen such things in patha salai, perunthu nilayam etc.. (oru change ku tamil la sonnen :) .. i remember there was one such doing this act outside gandhipuram bus stand in Cbe. in one way, its somewat better than begging.

Ram said...

Hard works pays off .. at least in his case it earns him his daily bread ..

I dint expect u to blog so soon on this.. yesterday we were chatting on this rite.. Good one ..

Ranjit said...

How much do you think he will get from displaying his drawing skills? Anything that gets him through that day would be what he's looking for I suppose. Should try and find out why they do that and not beg :)
That should be interesting!

Shankar Srinivasan said...

For interesting perspectives on Panhandling and some facts, check these out:
1 , 2,3 .


and eesor, not everyone needs to know what he will be able to provide to others.There will be someone who knows how they can use you to get a job done. And there is always some job or the other that needs the application of human mind.

Secondly, the people selling buds and toys should realize that they should probably be selling something else, or should be doing some other work for someone else.

I realize i am turning your comments section into a debate zone with my lengthy monologue.

But, my point is that Govts create beggars.

Unknown said...

Ram,
Actually i was composing this blog,when we were talking about it last night.. :-)

Ranjit,
Am not sure how much he will get..Probably around 100 bucks. May be less or more . Yeah.. he might just do this for day to day purpose only.. Probably he might earn some money, get drunk for a while, and then when he is sober, he will start drawing, get drunk, then sober and the cycle continues.. Why i say this is, i saw him getting some liquor like thing from some guy today.

Unknown said...

Shankar,
I have already come across the first two links. I have seen panhandlers in LA\SFO, with similar boards like " Donate dollar for a beer". I was actually surprised by that.. Anyways as this guy in link 3 says, they are not bullshitting.

Its interesting to hear government create beggars...but why? what do they gain from it..?

Shankar Srinivasan said...

"why?what do they gain from it?"
Like Edmond says in The count of Monte Cristo.. "its complicated..."

1.When the role of govts is restricted to protecting the rights of every individual,people can stop worrying and start looking for ways in which they can trade for a living.Freely, without coercion.

The amount of food, water, materials etc is not limited
There is enough for everyone, and problems and challenges are always there.

When the incentive is there to find solution to problems and challenges, better systems develop.

The whole society benefits.
Noone is really useless,there is always something that everyone can do for which someone else will give something else in return.


2.What is Govt,but a bunch of individuals who have powers to decide what everyone else must/mustn't do even when their(citizen's) actions don't impose a cost on others(other citizens') life.

Most govt activities focus on everything other protecting an individual's liberty.

They are basically restrictions which prevent competition and enterprise.
It makes it very difficult for people to think and trade freely and fairly.
And, the person who is most affected in this scenario is the one who is the poorest.