Those who have been in and around Delhi or for that matter in northern part of the country would have come across this special creed of beggars who surface out only on Saturdays (the day for 'Shani-Devtaa').
There is a huge variation in the look and appearance of these special 'Shani-Devs' and one can find them dressed in raggedy filthy white to crispy saffron attires. However, the modus operandi of all these alms-seekers remains the same. They usually carry a tin or steel vessel filled with mustard oil in which stands a loosely cut human figure usually of some metal, adorned with a garland or two and some coins usually meant to instruct the onlookers to drop another few.
These people close in on you as you stop your vehicle and usually would not sound pathetic as most people seeking alms would. Instead they hold out their vessels in a brisk and perfected movement and look you right in the eye and urge you to dole out a few coins to allay the wrath of the 'Shani-Bhagwaan' and behave as if they were acting as volunteers to help you ease out the load of your sins.
Now Hindu mythology is full of references of millions of Gods and Goddesses and incarnations and divine forms which have inspired and rekindled hope and instigated fear alike in the minds of the urban and rural population of the country and 'Shani-Dev' is one deity who is hailed as the greatest trouble giver as per Hindu Scriptures. He is usually depicted dark in colour, clothed in black; holding a sword, arrows and two daggers and variously mounted on a black vulture or a raven making him all the more fearsome and because of the fear he induces he is all the more revered by the masses.
It is considered that Lord Shani Dev is embodied in the planet Saturn and is held as the Lord of Saturday and so to soothe his wrath a person must give alms and do some charity to earn good 'karma'. This is where these beggars rule the roost over their counterparts on Saturdays. They come out and swarm the traffic lights and in some parts go door to door with their oil cans and seek money from people.
Anyway, enough on the background, let me just go on to narrate what I witnessed a couple of weeks ago at a traffic signal in CP, Delhi. I was driving by the Regal Cinema and had stopped on a red light when I saw this little kid approach a man who was apparently a foreigner tourist by the road. (I could gather this by the way he was dressed and the fact that he carried a map of the city.. I haven't come across an Indian national carrying a map in India no matter what). This guy probably had not yet been accustomed to the ways of beggars in India and so in a way to avoid further interaction with the kid and lose him, hurried his steps and moved to his right. This unexpected movement took this kid by surprise and he got brushed aside by the large backpack the tourist was carrying and his oil vessel holding the little metal cutout of Lord Shani, was knocked out of his hands.
This led to spillage of oil, coins rolling and the statue of Lord Shani Dev toppling over and falling flat on the road.
A few people who were walking by, looked on at this bungle of the little friar, waiting to make something out of this apparent bad omen(Shani Dev falling on the floor etc.) and contemplated whether to walk past or wait till the God was restored on his 'seat'.
However to public's horror and to my amusement, this kid took off his flip flop (Bata ki hawai chappal) and in a swift movement, picked up his 'idol' and knocked it into a small wooden block resting inside his vessel using his slipper.
I still can not forget the expression on the face of an elderly woman passing by who was watching the entire episode. The look of bewilderment on her face was a clear indication that all what she believed in and all her faith was at question at the very moment. She constantly held her hands to her ears as if seeking forgiveness for the chit of a child who was busy fixing the means of his livelihood back in its seat, oblivious of what went around him.
Don't know if the prayers of that old lady worked or not, but the kid was back on the pavement in a minute, harping his tune to some other passer by.
As for me, the light turned green soon after and I went on to live another day to narrate this incident through this blog.
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