Helping Others

A question I have never answered satisfactorily to myself is “how to help beggars?” Setting aside the ugly side of begging where it is conducted as an organized racket, there are many beggars who feel genuinely helpless and incapable to seek gainful employment. Just like many situations in life, this too presents a conundrum, for, the compassionate response in such a situation is to gift a 10 or 20 rupee note. A truly satisfying response is to take steps towards rehabilitating them in a more lasting manner. On the other hand, there are arguments against helping begging too, with the most popular one I have heard being that aiding beggars aids begging as a form of living which is against helping them truly get back to their feet via employing themselves. Over time, I have tended to believe the latter approach is for the better, though there has been the odd circumstance when I have needed the charity-induced happiness.

A less clear question I am confronted with every now and then is “how to help people less fortunate and well-to-do than us?” In this category, everybody from the housemaid to the ball boy to the relatively-better-paid car driver features. Here, the need to justify one’s stance is greater since otherwise we are left either feeling guilty that we are not doing enough or left feeling cheated by more than commensurate salaries in return for lesser work as per our judgement. Again, the compassionate approach to take asks that we receive the labour for which we pay without double-guessing intent or reading reasons as excuses. Part of the problem stems from the fact that we have set our maids and servants the same high standards of professional behaviour that we hold ourselves to in our work places. This is neither fair nor called for, since the unorganized sector has not learnt in any formal way the broader moral principles of education; often faces many more survival-related questions that might seem mundane to our eyes; and has as it’s biggest advantage the looseness with which roles and daily tasks are defined – for example, a car driver is also expected to keep the car clean and even play the mechanic role every now and then; while a maid servant who normally sweeps the rooms and cleans the utensils is called in once in a while to also do the windows, dust the curtains and water the plants.

A third related question is “how justified are we in demanding to know the cause to which our money is put to use?” Put in another way, when workers earn salaries via their role, we don’t ask questions on how they spend their money. But, when the same workers ask for extra money to help them tide over spikes in expenses – like educational or household ones – do we need more justification and information than what is given to us? Are we asked for reasons when we demand bonuses from our bosses? Charity starts from a clean heart with the knowledge that we are helping someone whose need is stated because we have the means to do so. Charity ends when the mind starts doubting the stated need. At that point, it becomes an unstated barter transaction in which we expect to have bought the worker’s loyalty as opposed to earning it ourselves. Of course, commensurate pay for work is not the question here – anything more would be devaluing others of the same profile and denying ourselves a fair transaction and anything lesser would be dehumanizing the workman.

There is more than one question that needs clear answers.