Chennai is a place of mixed emotions not just because of people from different backgrounds, but also their attitudes. Here's my experience in this metropolis.
Being a college student, a week or two is the minimum time required for me to save my pocket money in order to watch a movie. Three of my buddies and me planned to watch a movie in a not-so-great-theatre near Koyambedu on a weekend. We got our tickets and had to wait as we reached pretty early.
While we were chatting our attention was drawn to two young boys who were begging for alms. They were thin and while one was dressed in worn out shorts tied with a rope to the waist, the other was wearing a faded vest and frayed trousers. We could judge their poverty by their appearance. On approaching us they cried out, “Akka, akka pasikkudhu akka. Sapitu munu naal agudhu…” (Sister, we are very hungry. It's been three days since we ate.)
Their voice and their eyes bore testimony to their hunger. Pitying their condition, we gave them some money. This resulted in a heated discussion about poverty .
Debating the cause
Who was to be blamed — the people or the people's government? When we cannot meet the primary demand of food for a man, how can we even call ourselves a developing nation? Is it the apathy of the government or is it simply the individual's indifference towards society?
We explored many factors which haunts our society but couldn't arrive at a decision. We deliberated that the growing population along with illiteracy and unemployment were the criteria that drew the axis in the graph of poverty.
It was with a sense of confusion that we entered the movie hall. While we were looking for our seats, we were shocked and annoyed to see those two beggar boys running around to make themselves comfortable in one of those front rows. We were again just left with more questions in mind with no answers….
S.G. SANDHYA, II Year, B.A. English, Anna Adarsh College for Women
