How Beggars Can Be Funny in India

The scenario of beggary is quite bad in India as it is in many other developing countries. Although I do not like the behavior of beggars with the locals and tourists, I cannot ignore their immense sense of humor and sarcastic tone of language. There have been several incidences when the panhandlers have turned sarcastic if their stubbornness to fetch money does not work. One such instance comes to my mind when I was traveling to Pune with my friend.

My college friend, Shikha, is a gorgeous looking girl, and she has been in touch with me for more than seven years now. In most parts of India, if a man is just standing with a girl, almost everyone assumes that they are in love. I am not talking about the hamlets of the country; this judgmental thought process prevails even in the metropolitans. We had planned a trip to the mountains with a couple of more friends, and we were to meet them on the Hong Kong lane in Pune. Since Shikha could not think about anything but shopping in the market, I decided to devour on some pav-bhaji.

I was silently enjoying my food while admiring the young crowd in the bazaar. Even though I had no intentions of entering even a single shop, I could not help but visit a couple of outlets that looked promising. However, I was tired of shopping in just a few minutes, and I decided to call Shikha. She, thankfully, answered and promised to stay with me until everyone else came.

As we were talking while enjoying our glasses of watermelon juice, a little child around seven years of age comes to us. He has a beautiful smile, but his clothes reveal that he is a beggar in the market. As he asks for some money, I cannot help but refuse since I do not encourage beggary, no matter what. He starts pulling my pants and says, “Bhaiya, paise do na." His act irritates me, and I try to shun him to go away while saying sorry to him.

He again pleads and blesses us saying, "Aap dono ki Jodi bani rahe” meaning may God bless you two to be together. I laugh at his words and tell him that the girl is not my girlfriend. He stops smiling and shows sympathy towards me saying, "Bhaiya wo to lag hi raha hai” meaning it was quite obvious to him. I ask him shocked what he meant by his words. He walks away while uttering, “Didi kafi achi hain” (Sister looks quite good).

I stood fixed in the ground while the savage child walks away, and I can hear Shikha in the background, laughing and rolling on the floor. I knew that I was slain for the day, and she will narrate this incident to everyone coming to meet us. Even I could not help, but feel impressed by the high levels of sarcasm running through the veins of every person in India, or Pune, I would say. I rested on my Self-Drive Car Rental and waited for the time when everyone would come and make lame jokes on me. Pheewww!