Just a Rupee

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This is a rhetoric, satirical poem that justifies the proverb “beggars are not choosers”.

I once saw a poor

Beggar who sat

Begging for alms

On a tattered mat.

I thought that the

Beggar must be in need

He probably had some

Children to feed.

Feeling pity for the

Man I did see

I went up to him and

Offered him a rupee

Looking at the coin

With expectant eyes,

A feeling of disgust the

Beggar could not disguise

He surprised me when

He shook his head.

A firm but rude

“No” he said.

With the coin you give

There’s nothing I can buy

With the prices of

Goods soaring sky high.

Rs. 20 is the price of a

Decent Cigarette pack;

I need at least hundred

To buy some smack.

“Though I am just a beggar

But like many like me

I won’t accept a sum

Below my dignity.

“Moreover my business

Is not doing too well,

What profits it will

Bring, I never can tell.

So you see that your

Coin is of no use

And that is why

I had to refuse.

But a ten rupee note

I will gladly accept”

Said that beggar.

Nothing except

Quite moved by

The beggar’s eloquence,

I felt convinced that

He spoke sense.

And after the important

Lesson that I learned

I pocketed the coin

Which I had earned.

And being the sensitive

But not the foolish kind

I walked away, leaving

The beggar behind.

But at times, I see the

same beggar who sat

Begging for alms on

His tattered mat.

And quite often

I still get to see

Him, refusing to accept

Another “Just a rupee”.

And at these times, I

Stop to muse a while,

And I cannot help

But let out a smile.

For a certain thought

Greatly amuses me

And I am sure, in this,

You will also agree.

That if he hadn’t had

The aversion to a rupee,

He might have been

Richer than you or me.

For like what once

A wise man said

‘It is one by one that

You make a hundred

But there is nothing

I can do or say

For greed, alms have

Its price to pay.

With this thought

Still in my mind

I walk away leaving

The beggar behind.