I was heading towards my flat about a week ago, and got the strange feeling that someone was following me. I kept going, blaming my paranoia on last night's X-files rerun. Suddenly, a strong "Sir" from behind stopped me in my tracks. It took me a few moments to recognize the speaker as the obsequious waiter who works at a restaurant one frequents. Without a preamble, he made a semi-demand, "Please give me 100 rupees." I eloquently responded, after a three-second shocked pause, "What?" He identified himself as the waiter from the particular restaurant as he thought that was the cause for my surprise. I decided to go with "Why?" the next time. He responded that he was going on vacation. The more disturbing element wasn't the fact that he was treating me like his holiday fund but the creepy smile on his face that refused to fade. I attempted to extricate myself from this awkward situation by promising to pay him the money next time I visited the restaurant. But, he proved to be someone who staunchly believed in the adage 'try, try until you succeed'. With that smile on his face getting wider, he said, in the same polite tone, "I want the money now, sir." I wondered for an instant if this was actually the world's mildest daylight robbery in progress. I reiterated my previous statement, finding no other way out, turned around and sped forward to my destination without waiting for a response.
That incident called to mind another experience when a professional mendicant approached me and demanded 50 bucks. The episode had left me nonplussed. I had always assumed that there was a 10-rupee cut-off limit when it came to alms. This man, however, had no intention of adhering to the unwritten laws of begging; he was a revolutionary of sorts. I refused to part with my money both times. It wasn't the traditional 'he's healthy, let him earn his money' justification for me; it was more the 'I'm so broke I can't spare a penny' truth that prevented me from helping them out monetarily. Every one of us have, at one point or the other, swallowed our pride and asked for money from our friends or family. It's an agonising feeling refusing to give money to someone in need. Money is, indeed, the root cause of terrible social awkwardness.
