Do beggars deserve our sympathy or indifference?

I cringe at the sight of the decaying face of a desolate poor individual; yet my mind goes blank when I think of how to help them. Even if I help them financially, I can never cure their gloomy and emotional state of mind, their unhappiness and the woes they try to hide. An expression of agony is written all over their faces.

Their ragged, coarse and wrinkled faces are enough to prove how miserable they are. Their skin is tightly woven on their facial structure which clearly indicates starvation. We are so busy in our daily routine that we fail to realise our duty to help humanity. Indeed, the feeling of making an underprivileged person smile is overwhelming.

I see bones clothed by ragged clothes, not a person. I wonder how many times she may have missed her meals, the amount of times she may have been shoved aside by the imprudent and self-centred people, the several times she may have been rejected or ignored, moreover accused for being fake and sly. Despite not being in a position to argue or fight back, she raises her scraped palm in an attempt to beg.

There’s a famous saying which states we should not judge a book by its cover, yet when we come across a beggar, we don’t think twice before saying,

“Why does she not earn by working rather than beg for money? Surely begging won’t help her.”

However, we are completely unaware of her emotional instability, the woes that breed within her. She nurses agony and sheds tears out of fear of starving her family. The dread of losing her loved ones haunts her. Carrying this fear, she lacks the required strength to work. In the end, she finds herself completely helpless.

With such emotional and physical instability, how can we expect her to work?

She is left with no strength and wears a disconsolate expression. Her only reason to breathe and live is to feed her children. One can see the evidence of her convulsive sobbing in her eyes.

For this hopeless soul, life is a matter of struggle, pain, eternal gloom, disappointment and misfortune all piled up at her disposal.

During such desperate times, a person does not just need financial support but love, kindness and acceptance. Kind words and condolences can do what wealth cannot. We are extremely oblivious of the humiliation these people have to go through on a regular basis. However, as a human we can interpret the sentiments of other human beings and what they go through.

Therefore, we should help the underprivileged in order to show them that humanity is still alive. Even a pat on the back can generate a smile on their faces. Instead of pushing them away, we should assist them in every possible way. As a society, it is our duty to bring them closer to us in every possible manner. We have the ability to help the homeless and the beggars on the streets in various ways; all we need is whole-hearted effort and an earnest willing attitude.

from The Express Tribune Blog http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/21315/do-beggars-deserve-our-sympathy-or-indifference/