What foreign nationals feel about India and her beggars!

Ron (a friend of mine from the US working in India for over a year now), like any other guest in India thinks that beggars are one of the worst things about this country! He did see 'Slumdog Millionaire' and was offended by the sequences involving the beggars (and how they are 'made'). But, now that he has been in this country for quite sometime, he has stopped being 'nice' to the beggars (even the small children) and has in fact pretty strong reasons for not being charitable. I will write them down for you here:

• He has seen a number of beggars 'getting ready for work' early morning when he goes for a jog. One beggar helping his colleague tie bandages around his head, making sure the color looks like fresh blood, etc.
• He has observed a 'strategy' that these beggars adopt, specially for foreign nationals. One small kid would target one particular foreigner in a day and then follow him/her/group everywhere they go. Into the park, out of the restaurant, near the parking lot, outside his gym, near her spa; everywhere the person goes they would follow them with a face expression full of hunger, pain and helplessness. This particular strategy actually works wonders for them as this day's investment often results in a couple of hundred (and sometimes more) bucks at the end of the day.

My grandfather used to say, "Never say no to a beggar! But, always give a pinch of flour so that he/she gets to eat half a meal after working hard the whole day!" Forced beggary, forced prostitution are two big evils of Indian society. Often hidden (and ignored), these dark alleys of India need to be exposed to eradicate this evil which associates itself with a number of other crimes in our society!

Say no to beggars! Don't be 'nice' be practical and considerate about our nation and her pride!

Related posts:

1. The land of the poor.

Yet another 'slumdog' moment!

I came across this ad in the Telegraph's Indian e-edition. Don't wish to say much on it as we've got Oscars for Slumdog now but the way the west sees us is amazingly captured in this pic. This pic alternates between an accident site lined up with mumbai taxies and a pic of 3 really cute kids. Accidents do happen everywhere in the world, don't they? Just a thought!

The Oscar goes to Slumdog Millionare: The Credit goes to ??

The incredible performance of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars brought in mixed reactions from world over. Some felt that the movie deserved it all, rest fought that it didn't..
But interested to note is the way the Indian politicians and British media are fighting to take credit of the success of movie. Here are some of the reactions:

Mr. Manmohan Singh:
"Congratulations, The winners have done India proud."

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi:
"They represent the finest traditions of our film industry and are an inspiration to all of us,"

Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi:
"a film of India, for India, by India" and also added that the "conducive atmosphere with emphasis on good governance contributing to an achieving India".
"We are celebrating it, not taking credit for the film". He referred to the first individual gold medal in Olympics by Abhinav Bindra, the Indian mission to moon, special status to India in the 123 agreement without signing the NPT, nine per cent growth rate and the country being the second fastest economy in the world, and of course the 8 Oscars for India-focused film as part of "Achieving India".

This seems to be a ploy similar to the one used by the NDA government before the previous general elections, just that the "Indian Shining" has now become "Achieving India".

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown:
“I am incredibly proud of the Oscar success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and Kate Winslet, and I congratulate everybody who has contributed to the success. Britain is showing it has the talent to lead the world. I think we should be very proud of what are great British successes.
“It shows that Britain is leading the world not just in film but fashion, music and design - and long may that be the case - as a result of the great talent that we have,”
His reactions came in very quick, even before the Indians could snatch all the attention.

Here are different reactions from people more closely associated with the movie -

Danny Boyle

"There's one guy I should mention, we've mentioned a lot of people. I forgot a guy. The guy who choreographed the dance at the end of the film. He's called Longiness. And I forgot him off the credits. And I only found out about it two weeks ago. I'm an idiot and I apologize from the bottom of my heart, Longiness. Thank you so much. Finally, just to say to Mumbai, 'Unending, inseparable, unborn.' All of you who've helped us make the film and all of you of those of you who didn't thank you so much. You dwarf even this guy (gesturing to the statuette). Thank you very much indeed."


Frank Boyle (father of Danny Boyle)
"I think it's reasonable,He is not making films for me. He is making them for younger filmgoers so I won't say anything more about it. I really liked the music I thought it was wonderful."

Tanay Hemant Chheda
"It's unbelievable, it's still not sunk in. We are on the red carpet. Wow!"

Any guesses for what did my favorite performer in the movie had to say ??



Anyways, I think we all Indians should realise the fact that Slumdog Millionaire is essentially an English production, made in India. Let's not go overboard and call it an achievement or recognition of "Bollywood" in the West. So, the credit goes to all the people associated with the movie the Director, Producer, All the actors, the technicians, and support staff. And not to forget here, Vikas Swarup and his book "Q&A" (chosen as "The Most Influential Book of the Year 2008" by Kingstone Bookstore in Taiwan, the biggest chain store throughout Taiwan)which made all this possible..