Tuesday 16 September 2008

This Is NOT A Religiously Intolerant Post.

For those of us in the Indian context, especially from what I've seen in Mumbai, ask yourselves this. How many beggars have you seen saying, "Yah Allah!" and how many saying, "Bhagwaan ke naam pe de de"? In my experience, as much as 90% belong to the former.

Let's get things straight here. I'm not saying that Mulsims are more likely to be beggars than Hindus, or any such rot. I'm not a religious fundamentalist. Fuck it, I'm agnostic, with a deep sense of respect for other people's faiths and beliefs. All I'm saying is that of the beggars I've seen, most tend to appeal to Islamic sensibilites.

Personally, I put this down not to a matter of faith, but of optimisation. I've read somewhere (my readers are more than welcome to correct me if I'm wrong about this) that a follower of Islam must, by his faith, feed a hungry man. Holding that statement as accurate, conceptually speaking, that increases the prospects of a beggar, especially in a heavily multicultural city like Mumbai.

Damn. I see marketing wherever the hell I go. Sheet!

Completely tangentially, if you're agnostic or an atheist, you might enjoy this, and this, the original letter (you'll get it if you follow the link). I know I did.

25 member protest rally:

Preeti said...

why did this fantastical notion take birth, sweetie...?

jhayu said...

@ Preeti.
Random observations. On my way to work every morning, I see 8 or 9 beggars saying, "Yah allah" or something to that effect, and 1 or at most 2 on extreme occasions saying "Bhagwaan ke naam pe...".

Most of my random posts are observations of life in general.

Preeti said...

oohh..
ok...
actually it is allah ke naam pe etc etc...

Preeti said...

strange na,

never thought of it...

see...your random observations are not so random...after all

i ve noticed that my wv's are all pretty easy...
:-)

jhayu said...

@ Preeti.
No, I've heard some awesome variations of "Allah ke naam pe..."

And google likes you! Hence the easy WVs...

Menaka said...

I dont think its that simple. Firstly, when people beg they prefer just saying 'eh mai, baba' or u know, something like that. But even if they do say take the name of Allah, i dont think they have bothered to check their prospects and found that Allah will help them more than Bhagwaan.
And by that statement, you mean to say bhagwaan doesnt give a shit about the poor.

In any case, how many ppl do you think would change their decision of giving the beggar some money, on the basis of which god he/she is pleading?

jhayu said...

@ Menaka.
Firstly, I am not making a statement about all beggars. These are the ones I encounter on my way to work. No "Eh mai, baba"s as you call them.

Secondly, check again. I never said Allah will help them any more than bhagwaan. Nowhere do I imply that bhagwaan doesn't give a shit about his people.

The question of prospects here is not with regards to the god, but the followers of the god.

Also, read carefully. By his faith, a muslim is bound to feed a hungry man. Therefore, appealing to a muslim gives a beggar a better chance of being fed. Whether it happens or not is a different story, and not one I'm talking about in this post.

Menaka said...

ok... dont have a cow!!!
im just saying what i thought... no harm meant!! really...

jhayu said...

@ Menaka.
No harm meant! See the sheer number of accusations in your comment!!!
=P

Anonymous said...

Some observation indeed, though I can hardly recall what beggers say...Nice blog too.

jhayu said...

@ Copy rioter.
Firstly, welcome & thankis!
Secondly, that's a damn nice alias.
Thirdly, I guess it just goes to show the nonsense I pay attention to...

Ani said...

Why does the FSM have meatballs?!
This is an outrage :P

But interesting observation I must say.

jhayu said...

@ Ani.
Dude. Tha spaghetti's gotta have-a-tha meataballs! (Sorry, it's difficult to type out an Italian accent)

Pratz said...

lolz...interesting observation jhayu...

question: whats wrong in seeing marketing wherever ya go?

Paradox Philic said...

Yes Jhayu, like Pratz asked - whats wrong in seeing marketing whereevr you go. At least that way you are prepared not to get victimised by it.

jhayu said...

@ Pratz.
You know how marketing oriented I was when I was in college. Hence that statement.

@ Gina.
Now that you put it that way, it don't sound so bad anymore. Dayyam! Thankis!

BuntyCobra said...

No muslim is "bound" to feed a hungry man.
It's out of choice,not out of obligation.
Then,you even must have read or heard that Jains must walk barefoot and follow a strict diet.
But do they completely abide by the religious texts?

When beggars beseech,the name of the god is insignificant to the donor,atleast a rational one.So I don't think it determines the amount the beggar receives.Who thinks so much?


I wouldn't know about MNS supporters. :P

For all we know,if one of them happen to come across your blog,they will insist on the beggars
union to implore as,"Maharashtra ke naam par de de". :D

BuntyCobra said...

Er,sorry,that was long.

jhayu said...

@ Curlyconman.
Welcome! And thanks for the heads up.

Also, the fact that I think too much was never debatable or negotiable.

And you think that's long? Wait a while. You ain't seen nothing yet. If you write a really good/controversial/suspenseful/insightful/awesomeness (basically, a nice) post, then you'll see long.

Shoaib Daniyal said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakat

Modern Islamic scholars also believe that removing the word verifications on your blog is now a form of zakat.

jhayu said...

@ Hades.
Well lookie there, will you? Nice to see I have some backing information!

And unfortunately, it is now that I must reveal my agnostic-tending-toward-atheist beliefs.
= )

Paradox Philic said...

Jhayu i almost said "same-pinch" there @ agnostic-tending-toward-atheist beliefs then i noticed the reverse order of words..

yes.. me an atheist-turned-agnostic!!

jhayu said...

@ Gina.
We're all welcome here! = P

Mudra said...

Jhayu... I just remembered... I was with you once when you got approached by a Muslim beggar outside college, and I found it funny because you looked kinda Muslim.

Your new picture on blogger reminded me - you're looking a little Muslim again. You know, beard, longish hair, etc. (The day you got pestered by the beggar you were wearing a bright green shirt that - I'm sure - removed all his doubts in the matter. Yes, I remember the colour of your shirt because I wanted to burst out laughing on the spot and tell you why you were singled out.)

So I rushed here to tell you about it. Maybe only YOU are getting more Muslim beggars. :D

jhayu said...

@ Muduu.
Yeah I know the tshirt to which you refer.

And do you mean looking muslim something like this? = P This was taken today, so that is how I look right now...

And it's, like, awesome that you responded so instantly!!!



And, like, whatever, about your little, like, conspiracy theory, you know, which you're, like, whatever. =P

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