All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’’—George Orwell (Animal Farm). Of late, I’ve been wondering whether the same theory holds good for the beggars on the road. Some of them are better off than most of us. Financially, that is.
Not just better off. Rich. Stinking rich. Rags-to-riches stories are dime a dozen. Some mind-boggling. Cashing in on the sympathy factor, they make you part with the humble one-rupee coin as well as the crispy notes. Denominations depend on how well you fall for their ‘drama’. A rough calculation shows how they pull it off: Let’s suppose beggar A begins ‘work’ at intersection A of Vyttila Junction, said to be the busiest junction in Kerala, around 8 am.
Consider on an average, around 1,000 cars pass through intersection A (the road from Tripunithura) from 8 am to 8 pm. Each time the signal turns red, beggar A is at your door. Given the fact that there are very few coins in your pocket these days, with change hard to come by, you lower the window and drop Rs 10 (an insignificant amount these days) into his hands. Satisfied, he moves to the next car.
Luck may not favour him with all the 1,000 cars. Let’s say he’s lucky with 500 cars. About Rs 10 from 500 cars translates to Rs 5,000. Add to that Rs 1,000 he gets by way of coins (Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5 denominations) from 250 cars. Forget the remaining 250 cars. Either they give him the slip or he gets nothing from them. So, we settle for Rs 6,000 per day on an average.
Remember, we haven’t counted the bikes, trucks, vans, autos or the buses that ply on the stretch. About Rs 6,000 per day would mean Rs 1,80,000 per month and Rs 2,160,000 per annum! That’s quite an astronomical sum, man! Think of the figures if a family of four manned the four intersections of Vyttila Junction day in and day out! Of course, all may not be lucky to pocket Rs 6,000 per day as our hero. But still the family would have their pockets or bags full with the booty. God! Where’s the tax man?
So, what do they do with that kind of money? I don’t know. To be honest, I haven’t seen a beggar in Doc & Mark shoes, wearing a Louis Philippe shirt, driving a Merc or a BMW or dining in a swanky restaurant. I haven’t even seen ‘em at the multiplexes watching the latest movies. Perhaps the bank man should know. Maybe one of these days, I should befriend a beggar. Who knows —he could be my ‘friend in need’. I can hear the rasping voice of ole man Shakespeare: “Neither a lender nor a borrower be.’’ Forget it, man. Forget it. All you gave me was a book of quotations. Here is God’s plenty. Alms and the man.