On Rickshaws

Been thinking through the hand pulled rickshaw thing.
When I first arrived I was surprised to see it, someone in the team noted that it was as if a man was taking the role of an animal, and later I commented that I'd struggle to think of myself riding in one. A week later and I've done just that and have been trying to justify or maybe just understand myself since. I don't think the girls were impressed, but my conscience is learning in this environment. It's not tuned to Kolkata.

Some details: The seats are pretty small, enough for two thin people but a squeeze for two standard Englishmen. The guy doesn't seem stressed out by the chore. He must be pretty strong and fit. He carried a little bell which competes for attention with the horns of the taxis and bikes. You're sat high up directly over the wheels, which have a large leaf spring suspension so the ride is smooth. It's actually an efficient way to get around through the narrow busy streets of central Kolkatta and doesn't contribute to the pollution. Peculiar in that the guy did not charge a specific price but seemed to be letting us choose at the end of the journey, hoping it seems we might pay over the odds. The vast majority of the time, I mean 99.9%, I see Indian's using them; business men, women with shopping, old ladies, school children. Every time I go for a walk I'm offered a ride by a rickshaw man, who will otherwise be dozing on the seat. They don't own the rickshaw, but rent it. The actual owner is a couple of links up a chain of rental, each one getting his cut. I've noted before that officially they are banned, have been for two years, and that at the end of August the ban will be enforced on the basis that it's inhuman. EMC are running an advocacy program for the rickshaw pullers and oppose the ban. They oppose it since these men have nothing else to do. Come September 18000 men will be unemployed in central Kolkata.

So why the change in my opinion? I think largely I had simply become used to seeing them around. EMC's advocacy program also made me think a little more. To be clear EMC eventually want the men off the rickshaws doing something else, and so are campaigning for a government project to retrain and support them. Currently there's nothing.

Of all the things I have seen or heard, I seem to be able to cope with the fact that some men are earning a living pulling others around as a service. I have the uttermost respect for them, and think they do have a dignity of their own. If I was planning the government of Kolkata I'm not sure these men would be my first target. I'd be more concerned with the families sleeping on the pavements I'm trying not to disturb as I walk, I'd be concerned about the lads living at the railway station addicted to brown sugar or glue, I'd be concerned about the women who have to hide their children under their beds whilst they entertain their customers (a practice stopped in an area at least, thanks to the EMC project). The government do support some of the work EMC is involved in, it's worth noting. Frankly I've had more of a moral dilemma sat in a restaurant eating some tasty dish in air con luxury and leaving a couple of pizza slices or rice because I'm stuffed, whilst the sights I've walked through to get there still play in my mind.
Truth is Kolkata is full of this kind of moral question.
Do I give to beggars? Advice is that kids are likely to be giving any money to a bloke around the corner, so sweets or food is best, whilst old ladies are likely to actually need a few coins.
I spotted a kid from the Ripon St club with a women who I thought was his mum. So I got a couple of packets of biscuits, and ended up causing a situation and had to mediate between the woman and the kid, trying to get them to share, as if they were a couple of toddlers. Got the same kid a chicken roll a day or so later and he seemed genuinely generous sharing it with a small boy and a woman. So am I causing fights amongst them? Am I simply encouraging them to beg?

Maybe given enough time I'll get used to it all, and it's simply that hand pulled rickshaws are the least of the evils Ive seen. But I don't want to become numb. Feels like I've spent the last two years regaining a sensitivity to the sins of the Western World. I don't want to miss the point here. And I don't want to be saying 'that's just how it is' when God is dissatisfied. I love God's perfectionism.
Maybe I offered him some dignity in earning money or maybe I robbed him of some dignity in the service he offered.
Who knows? Maybe I analyse things too much.