A homeless elder sits on the side of the road, near the garbage dump. Photo taken 2017.
Here’s a quick story about the beggar who didn’t beg.
Before I leave for Nepal each trip, I usually check in with a few friends to see if they have a particular souvenir in mind which they would like me to bring back.
This year, one of you declined the souvenir, saying, instead, “Just give the money you’d spend on a souvenir to a needy elder instead.”
This is the story of the man who got her souvenir money.
♥
Beggars aren’t allowed to sit still in the tourist district anymore. They can’t even just sit on a stoop, doing nothing, not begging — apparently anyone can tell them to keep moving now and so the security guards (who are everywhere for whatever reason) keep them from sitting still.
Early one morning I was headed to the ATM and I saw an old man hold out his hand and I told him in Nepali that I’d be right back. It was probably four minutes later that I came back around the corner and he was gone.
The next morning, I was sitting in the coffee shop and happened to look out, and there he was, sitting on a stoop across the road. I got up and went out and got there just as a security guard was getting ready to shoo him off. I had a chance to snap at the guard and it felt good, I won’t lie. So I gave the beggar 1,000 rupees (about $7.96) but kept it folded up so the guard wouldn’t see how much I’d given him. For a beggar, that’s a fortune in one hit.
The next day, I was sitting near the coffee shop and saw him again, and again went over and gave him 1,000 rupees. I didn’t see him again for a few days because of my schedule, but the next time I saw him was when my younger sister, Puja, and I were in Ratna Lama’s shop and I was trying to figure out which paintings to buy from him. The store is the size of a large closet, and you have to duck your head and step down to get into it (you can kind of tell from the newsletter I sent out).
I looked up at one moment and saw someone in the tiny doorway — and it was this old man again. He just was looking hopeful. He didn’t have his hand out or anything. Just kind of hoping his luck would be good again with me, and I stepped outside with him and grabbed yet another 1,000 rupees for him. He was always, always grateful for it.
I didn’t take a picture of him because…well, it seemed exploitative. I can tell you he was older, probably in his 70s, and was small in frame and very lean. He was definitely as poor as dirt and may not have been Nepali but possibly Indian. I don’t know.
As I’ve mentioned before, the money I give to beggars while I’m in Nepal comes out of my pocket, not the nonprofit’s.
Every little bit counts. Those three gifts of $7.96 each was a fortune for that elder, but to me it just meant I had to scale back on my expensive decaf breve lattes here at home.
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With appreciation, always,
Alicia
