February 24, 2019 -
We are on the road to Jaisalmer near the Pakistan Border. We stopped at a bird sanctuary and were immediately assailed by local children begging for rupees. It's hard not to give, but we were warned not to do so.
Colleen had developed a real knack with them. We carried some candy with us and would give out pieces to the kids. At first, being seasoned veterans at this game, they would refuse. But they would rapidly melt when they were hugged and talked to by Colleen. They became what they were, just kids who starved for attention.
It did not always work, but this day it did and it offered a chance at a real connection.
Below is an excerpt from Ann Lamont's book "Some Assembly Required". She too wanted to give to local beggars and she described what followed. We experienced something similar when we first arrived and gave out some rupees although not as crazy as what she describes below
"I went to the ghat in front of the hotel. There were two nice, manageable beggar moms with little babies on the steps, all four crying to me, “Mama, Mama,” and pantomiming feeding themselves with a fork. I whipped out my tens, and gave one to the first mom, and one to the second, and then one to a third who had appeared, and then another to a grabby sadhu; and suddenly it was like when the seagulls roared in a cloud straight at us on Ashok’s boat. Dozens of beggars descended on me, calling, “Mama, Mama,” and “Auntie, Auntie.” I was handing out ten-rupee notes to all these hands that were tearing and snatching at me—and I was scared to fucking death. I felt like Tippi Hedren in The Birds. I was shouting, “Nay! Nay! EnRaHa! EnRaHa!” but boy, talk about closing the barn door after the horses get out. There were easily forty or fifty beggars surrounding terrorized, white, cringy me, and then some sort of security person from my hotel pushed into the crowd and starting shoving the mommies and babies and miscellaneous beggars away and rebuking them all, and another security man in a cap arrived, swinging at them with a stick, and he pulled me out of the vortex. I broke free and fell down, but caught myself. I sat down on the ground trying to catch my breath. I felt like a chick that had pecked its way out of its shell, lying there in the wet plop of freedom, with security making batting motions at beggars and with the curious peering at me on my butt."
Excerpt From: Anne Lamott & Sam Lamott. “Some Assembly Required.” iBooks. https://books.apple.com/us/book/some-assembly-required/id456075599
Comments