A moment of hesitation

I stood in front of Kanti Sweets, a place that we frequent for its excellent badam (almond) milkshake. Cajoling my two-year old to have a glass of badam milk takes a lot of patience(unless your two-year old is goody-goody and laps up all the milk like they show on some TV ads). That was when I saw her. Sitting in front of the shop, she looked old, wrinkled and nondescript. She was just one of the millions of beggars we see in the city and choose to ignore. While my kid drank a few sips and I couldn't help looking at her. She was definitely hungry and had I had offered her a milkshake, she'd have finished it in a gulp. Many thoughts rushed past me. There are so beggars in the city and how many could one help? Also this old lady might be controlled by some ringleader who takes a percentage of her earnings.

Just then, interuppting my train of thoughts, a guy, maybe in his thirties, rushed out of the shop with a plate of hot parantha and asked her if she wanted it. The old lady just gobbled the whole steaming parantha while he watched on. Once she finished, he handed the plate back to the server, came out of the shop and asked her if she needed help in walking across the street, as he was headed that way. He led her out of the place gently like he would to his own family.

I could have done the same thing - its just that I hesitated. Many of us have this dilemma. Should we help the beggars or encourage begging? Many a times I've felt giving money to a lady, holding an infant, but checked my sympathy thinking that this might be a 'borrowed' baby to increase her earnings given from the soft-hearted middle class. So what is the right thing to do? I would say act what you feel at that moment, like this man who bought the old lady a dinner. Give food, atleast that wont go the ones who control the racket.