Jis Ka Koi Nahi HoTa. . .

It was a cold December night and I was sitting in the car,
nursing an even colder drink. The boy must have shuffled in
from behined to stand at my window. He was 5-6 years old,
a round chubby face with a permanent smile in the middle.

He was unwashed and unkept, even for a beggar. His hair
was a tangled mess and bits of dried food still stuck to
his face. He was wearing a tattered gray shalwar kameez,
which had blackened in spots from the grime and grease. On
top he wore a puffy once-yellow jacket, that had dirtied
to match his other clothes. The jacket was open, as were
the buttons of his kameez and the cuffs on his sleeves.
He was the epitomy of veraniyaT, wilderness.

"Saab, sheesha saaf kar DouN ?". I looked at the dirty rag
in his hand and the clean windshield in front of me. "Nahi!,
nahi!" I told him. "Saab, jo ho Dey Deyna!" and with that
he started to clean my windshield with great gusto, totally
ignoring my pleas and threats. After he was done with the
windshield, he continued to vigorously wipe the rest of
the windows. Such enthusiasm is rare. Most beggars will
do a cursory wipe and extend the hand; right to business.
Apparently, Jimmy Hoffa hadn’t gotten to the kid yet.

I now had to give him something. Afterall, he had earned
it. No matter, if the windows now had grease smears all
over em. He had done his best. I asked him his name and
he said "Shafeeq". I gave Shafeeq some change. It amounted
to a nickel. His eyes beamed at the shiny rupee coins in
his hand. He saluted me with his other hand and went off,
with a spring in his step. Apparently the change which we
tossed into the ashtray, meant something to this child.

Late one night, I saw him sans his jacket, feet resting
up on the walls of a 24 hour Kwiki Mart, sleeping soundly.
His face betrayed not a care in the world. He might as
well have been resting on satin and velvet. The guards
sitting next to him were wrapped like mummies into their
chaddars, but one could see Shafeeq’s taut bare torso
resting on the chilly cement promenade.

The streets were this child’s home and his workplace. He
existed at the mercy of strangers and his wits. He is one
of many, Too many, who are out there, hustling, begging.

At home, we are bitterly divided on the subject of giving
alms to street beggers. Both sides sticking to their guns.
Those opposed, aren’t against giving alms, just not to the
street beggars. They want you to give only to Edhi, or other
welfare organizations. But can these NGO’s take care of
all the Shafeeq’s out there, I ask you ?.

Last night, when asked about his learned opinion on family
planning, the Ruet-e-Hilal Comm.’s Chairman Mufti Munib-
ur-Rahman said "When Pakistan was carved out, we had 3
crore people. Now we have 15 crore, living better, with
lesser resources...". The message: Keep having children
and Allah(SWT) will provide for them all. Don’t sweat it.

Like Amitabh Bachan said in the movie Zanjeer:

[i]"Lalloo yar, yea jeena bhee koi [b]jeena[/b] hai ?".[/i]


Cmdr Bond