Please dont confuse the idea of india being one of the fastest growing economy with its indeniable past of poverty & negligence. Growth in india has happened in past 15 years.I read some body stating something about picking up calls – who will she talk to? Indians? what service she could have provided? – Phone based voice support gained prominence among indian customers only in the past 8 years. In what language? And had capitalists expecting to churn out quick bucks looked at her 10 years ago, would they have taken pains to train her, leaving aside qualified young men & women? No way..In no way she would have been a compelling prospect fo decent value in short term/long term/medium term ( in a business man’s word) .Come on ya, you people tell me, will you? if you get one such option.

Also I read somebody saying it happens to poor disable people in india. But you must look why it happens its because of the high cost & non availability of medical support to downtrodden people. India is one of the most attractive places for medical tourism and has seen a lot of investment in this sector with full government backing. But the same governments have done nothing for indians in india.

These are sad truths you will have to digest being in a growing economy like india, confused between growth & sustainability, capitalism & communism, tranparency & arm-twisting.

Definitely the advanced nations would have had faced similar problems at one point in time or other. India today is in that stage where the advanced countries were, some 100 years ago ( in social & human resource development)

The country has been growing at varying pace in different levels of the society. Economic and social differences are widely prevelant but is getting effaced at a pace never thought of. For the most part, the abridgement of gap hasnt come through prudent policies of able governments & politicians, neither have the governments proactively enabled change. A case very different from developed world.

I respect diversity and diversity has its own challenges and it what that makes life interesting. Nobody can decide somebody’s future even if it is your son or daughter – the same arguement is extendable for civilisations as well… so lets dont jump into conclusions based on one single episode, based on one single piece from million samples…
we all must Jus take home – “she did that what we trying hard to teach ourselves, despite her ….”

The “hardships” we in the West face are not worthy of the name in my opinion.
You’re right about the UK’s total lack of financial education in schools and it is sad to see America is sadly lacking as well.

The problem lies in the desire of both countries governments to keep their populations in ignorance. Fortunately for them most people seem to be happy to be ignorant.

How many of you lot are doing that?

Precious few are here in the UK. I suspect America is in much the same position

Typical of a bloody bank though offering her a credit card when she clearly doesn’t need one!

For those who have no idea what polio is like (since it’s been eradicated in the US):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio

Think about how many times you’ve called in sick for a hangover or a sinus infection. Now imagine trying to work with *polio*.

I will also add, for those who are ignorant of cultural and political conditions in India, that beggars are often Untouchables. No one will hire her, even if she was of sound body. Not to mention, she has probably 0 years of schooling and is illiterate…

But I think it’s great that people who have never really had to overcome a *real* hardship (whether physical or cultural or whatever) find it so easy to pass judgement on others. It’s so attractive.

Sorry, Wendy. In order for her to be working, she’d have had to be receiving money in exchange for value, i.e. a service.

I’m not in Mike’s head, but I suspect his words were an instinctive reaction rooted in understandable cynicism, the polio notwithstanding.

Just to add some levity to the discussion: what *I* find obnoxious are the sanctimonious comments feigning restraint at calling Mike various childish expletives.

Let’s grow up, shall we?

The fact is, despite this woman’s situation within her society, all these beggars are not exactly saints because they are poor, and all you prigs here who are quick to salivate upon praising her are probably every bit as sheltered as you accuse Mike of being, not to mention every bit as biased, given the extreme leftist American society from which you all hail.

Also, it would be great to read a story about how young Indians are handling their new found wealth instead of beggars and poverty in India. I am curious about if the consumerism has caught on in India or the young generation saves well like the previous generation.

2. There is no shortage of labour, unqualified or otherwise, in India.

What gets me is the drunks and drug adicts who take to the streets in the UK, whingeing about how bad they’ve had it. It’s their choice to live on the streets and scrounge, this lady in India has no choice – there is no benefits system in India like we have in the UK, so hats off to her for struggling through a 44 year career of begging, and saving enough to retire.

Me thinks there is a large difference between begging in the third-world and being an able-bodied young adult choosing a life on the streets in a city teeming with jobs. Not saying there aren’t some who need assistance to get back into the work-force and bridge the gap, but I’m guessing that’s not the case with a large percentage you see walking the downtown corridor on any given day in the City of Roses.

Even the poorest of the poor in America are still way above what most of the rest of the world experiences. While the social pressures may not exist as strongly “over-there”, that is still little excuse for not taking responsibility and fighting to save while making a living and taking care of yourself. Get the help that’s offered, move forward. Don’t sit around and complain that the man is holding you down…even if they are, you still have it great compared to most others…

Sorry to rant off in that direction, but when I hear about what some have to deal with in other countries, and juxtapose that with the whining here, it makes me want to help people to see how great they have it.

Of course, education is necessary and as I said before, there are those who need a helping hand to bridge the gap back to self-sufficiency…b/c of disease, abuse, etc.

And furthermore…I still go out of my way to offer food to ANYONE who asks…money though…not so often.

Beggars in India generally don’t have apartments; they live on the streets. Assuming she maintains her standard of living after she retires, she really only needs to pay for food and medicine. And $692 will get you a lot of food and medicine in India.

This powerful example is also a sad one and begs at least one hope for the future–that the Indian gov’t would loosen regulations and support microfinance opportunities (including credit access, savings opportunities, etc) that could possibly help this woman and the millions of others who represent the “Bottom of the Pyramid.”

What readers of this blog may find interesting is that investment in microfinance opportunities is now–albeit slowly–becoming an option for those of us here. One day you could perhaps get a decent return for your investment in an institution that actually makes this woman’s life better. For more info, see ACCION, MicroPlace, etc…just Google around about “financial inclusion.”

J.D.–You are one of the stars/models in a post today at http://www.skelliewag.org about learning how to blog well! I agree with everything that has been written about the excellence of your blog and your writing skills. Congrats!

What do you think guys? I hope I don’t sound so mean to her.

http://www.digitalnpq.org/archive/2008_spring/28_yunus.html

I guess what I’m saying is: I’m not willing to condemn Das — not even a little — because I don’t know what her life is like. The closest I’ve come to knowing it is from the film Born Into Brothels, about the children in Calcutta’s “red light” district. (I highly recommend this film.)

Instead, I’m inclined to accept her situation at face value. If she believed that begging was her only option, I’ll accept that because I have no conception of what her life is like and what other options might be available to her.

And based on that, I admire what she’s done. I admire it a lot.