Beggars Cannot Be Choosers
The very word ‘beggar’ presents before our eyes the picture of a man in rags, pitiable to look at. Beggars live on charity. They have no right to pick and choose. They cannot choose their alms-givers. A helpless person cannot dictate. He has to submit meekly without any protest. One can scold one’s servant for his lapses. The servant with folded hands accepts his lot because he is at the mercy of his master. A slave cannot impose his will as his body and mind are fettered and he is all helpless. He has no independent entity and if he displays his guts, he is fired at once. Right or wrong he has to be humble; submissive and unassuming. If you go to somebody for a favour, you stoop low and degrade yourself. You can’t compel the person to help you or give you the thing of your choice. The man may be possessing the thing you want but it is up to him to give you that thing or not. If he does not give you that thing you cannot protest. If he gives you only a fraction of the thing you demanded, you have to accept that. You cannot say—No sir, give me that thing because I like it. You have no right to lodge any protest and ask any question. The world belongs to the rich and the poor have no say. The haves are the masters and the have-nots the salves, the beggars. Beggars have no right, whatsoever. Their only duty is to accept what the alms-givers give them. To be a chooser you have to be influential, powerful and rich.
