By Vyjayanthi Sriram
Beggars dot the road where the Sai Baba Temple stands in
Venkateswara Agraharam in Mylapore.
They sit here in a row. Unperturbed by the police threats and the
harsh weather they remain on the road in wait for devotees who offer food and
money.
“We have been often relocated to a government run Home, but we come back
here for the food and the freedom”, says Taj(58), who claims to be a
destitute.
On any day, there are some 15 beggars seeking alms: only 3 or
4 are women.
The temple provides annadhaanam 3 times a day and they have their
full here.
The owner of the eatery opposite the temple also provides food.
We saw a man limping by on crutches; he said he was a carpenter
from Madhya Pradesh who lost his legs in an accident.
One beggar claimed to be an engineer who once owned a workshop and
was now on the streets when business went downhill.
If we go by their stories, these beggars are a bizarre
collection.
“We get about 100 rupees on normal days and more on Thursdays. But
people distribute more food than money,” says a beggar. We saw devotees
distributing many kinds of food items from biscuits to mangoes.
When the day ends, some of them walk to the Marina sands to sleep
to the sound of the waves.
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