Steinbox

I leave for the airport late tomorrow night. This will likely be my last post from India.

There are many poor people in India. Unlike America, the majority of those living on the streets are homeless purely due to finances. It’s not difficult to find someone begging for money. Beggars will even come up and tap on car windows sometimes. Giving out cash to those who beg is never straightforward no matter where you are.

I would like to share with you what I saw one day while on my way to work. I saw an elderly woman crawling face up along the sidewalk. In order to move along she would scoot her bottom a few inches in the direction of her feet, reset her hands and feet, and then scoot a little farther. Every few scoots, she would pick up her purse, which would be by her arms, and put it by her feet. It took me a little bit to realize all that. She had a bandage on her right shin, which was probably preventing her from walking normally. She was dressed in a faded sari (putting on a sari is a difficult task). She was not begging. Wherever she was headed it was not close. There were no possible destinations for hundreds of feet. What I respect about this woman is that despite all of this she had dignity. I rather doubt I could equal her fortitude in similar circumstances.