MYSURU: Over the last couple of days, the Dasara Exhibition Grounds here has been witnessing an unusual spectacle. Every evening, at least two or three children draped in white dhotis, round spectacles perched on their noses, and faces powdered with talc sit cross legged or stand holding bowls for alms.
The children, mostly from Maharashtra, have become a curious attraction for visitors. For these children, becoming Mahatma Gandhi is not about spreading his message of self-reliance or truth; it’s a daily struggle for survival.
Seeing them standing holding a stick or sitting on floor, many tourists pause to take selfies, wish them ‘Happy Gandhi Jayanti’ while a few drop coins and currency notes into the bowls—may be an act of charity or a tribute to the Father of the Nation in the month of his birth.
Behind the innocent smiles is a darker reality. “People give more when they see Gandhi,” said a girl from Solapur who has been coming up dressed up as the man of ahimsa, every evening for the last one month.
Adjusting her round glasses as she stands barefoot on the dusty ground she said, “Some give coins, some give things to eat. We collect alms till night and then go back with what we have got and try to get food packed to have dinner with my family together every night,” she said. She is not alone. She said that at least two more boys have been doing the same thing for the last 15 days at the exhibition grounds.
“I used to make my way to the exhibition with balloons or pens, and pester visitors to buy them. As security persons were trying to send us out, we are now donning the Gandhi attire,” she said.
