A Beggar Editorial Photo

Beggars in India is a reality. There is more to begging and beggars in India than meets the eye. Poverty is a sad reality about the country. Now there may be some who are genuine and forced to beg out of compulsion. But more often than not there are well organized gangs who run begging rackets. Yes unbelievable but true there are big syndicates whose sole source of income is begging. For them begging is the easy way to earn money and they do it by playing on the sympathy of the unsuspecting tourist or passerby. Sometimes it will be children, some with a visible deformity, even amputated hands and legs or a burnt body part on display; ladies pretending to be mothers carrying their apparently sick babies in lap, who are more often than not rented; aged women and men. Yes these sights are appalling and quite moving but it is very important to react carefully when dealing with them.