The author recounts experiences from their travels that highlighted extreme poverty and suffering. During a trip to Thailand in the 1970s, the author encountered a young boy begging for food under their table. On Buddhist pilgrimages to India and Nepal in the 1990s and 2000s, the author witnessed dire conditions, including a village of beggars and syndicates that mutilated victims to increase begging profits. These encounters reinforced the importance of practicing charity and compassion to help alleviate suffering in the world.

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Sometime ago in the mid 1970s, a few friends and I went for
a tour to Hatyai in Thailand. On the first night we looked
around the streets of Hatyai to find a suitable place to have
our dinner. We finally settled for a simple restaurant with
some tables at the sidewalk as the space for dining inside the
restaurant was rather limited. We ordered some of the well-
known Thai dishes like Tom Yam soup, mango salad, fried
fish cake, braised pork leg, chicken green curry, nasi kerabu
(rice with fresh herbs), and a mixed vegetable. For dessert we
asked for Colour dessert, a famous Thai dessert. It is sweet
and has mung bean paste filling.
Half-way through our dinner I felt that something was pulling
one of my legs underneath the table that was covered with a
table cloth that dripped down towards the ground. At first I
thought it was a cat or a dog and my initial reaction was to
kick at it. I refrained from doing this and instead I lifted up
the table cloth to have a look at what was underneath that was
pulling at my leg. I got a great shock when I saw a little boy
probably not more than 10 years of age. He had a most
pathetic look. His clothes were tethered and he was
barefooted. Thin and frail, he appeared rather weak probably
from malnutrition. He was actually begging for food or some
money. I felt very sad looking at this poor boy; there was a
great tug at my heartstrings. I took out some Thai baht notes
and placed them in his hand. I could see that he was most
happy and he gave a smile of thanks before crawling out from
underneath the table and walked away.
Hatyai

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In the course of my trips and tours over the years to various
places I have come across some most unfortunate and
impoverished people leading tough lives – the destitute, the
orphans, the beggars and the disabled. Even in places like
New York, Canada and Europe, I saw the homeless roughing
it out by the roadside in the cold nights with just pieces of
cardboard, thin pieces of cloth and blankets for some
protection from the cold. In most of the places in Asia that I
had visited there were beggars – in China, India, Nepal,
Indonesia, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and
Thailand. Whenever I traveled with my friends in an
organized tour to such places, we would try our best to visit
some homes for the underprivileged to do some charity.
The encounters that tugged most at my heartstrings happened
during my three Buddhist pilgrimages to Nepal and India in
1996, 2004 and 2010. Memories of these experiences remain
etched in my heart and mind. It is unbelievable that there is so
much poverty and suffering in some of the parts of India.
We have been so fortunate and blessed with so many things
and luxuries. Living in our comfort zone we often forget that
there is a world outside us where there are so many suffering
ones. It is a most enriching life experience to visit some of
these impoverished places to do the little we can in terms of
some simple acts of charity.
One morning during our tour of New Delhi in 1996, I came
upon something which was really shocking.

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We were at a park-like area when I saw a couple of big vans
stopping by and releasing a number of deformed or
handicapped persons mostly children. Some of them had
twisted hands and legs while others had missing or deformed
fingers, toes, ears, noses and other bodily parts. A number of
them could only move about in crutches or could only crawl.
The feelings in many of our hearts’ were quite indescribable .
It was unimaginable that such things could prevail in modern
20th
century times with so-called progress and advancements.
The tourist guide told us that there were syndicates who
would pounce on unfortunate victims and force them to ‘earn’
money through begging. Some victims would even have their
limbs twisted or mutilated to project an impression of tragic
misery thereby evoking compassionate feelings among
tourists particularly. Punishments could be pretty severe for
those poor victims who did not ‘earn’ enough through their
begging for the syndicates. Seeing all this really made me
think and reflect of the suffering and pain of so many
unfortunate ones due to circumstances and the greed and
cruelty of heartless people.
In one of the pilgrimage tours I made there was a happening I
experienced that practically caused me to well in tears. I was
climbing up a hill to reach a shrine place that was situated at
the top of the hill. I had hardly started the climb when I
noticed that there was an Indian beggar boy tailing me. He
was probably around 11 or 12 years of age and he was
limping because of wounds and sores in one leg.

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His clothes were in a terrible condition and he was bare-
footed. He actually wanted to beg for some food and money
from me. But all of us had been warned by the local guide
that it could be dangerous to give money or food to any
beggars because there would be so many of them around. The
moment any giving was seen, there could come a horde of
other beggars to ‘attack’ the charitable person. I was really in
a dilemma as to what I should do. On one hand I felt in my
heart that the poor boy needed some food or money. Should I
give him something? I noticed that there were other boys and
young men in the vicinity some of them well-hidden behind
trees and walls of some buildings nearby. They were also
beggars watching me to see what I would do. I decided to
ignore for the moment the limping beggar and I continued my
climb. The limping beggar did not give up. He continued to
follow me up the hill. By then the other beggars had
disappeared. When I reached the temple at the hill top, I
turned into a corner wall intending to quickly give the poor
boy something. He could sense my intention and he followed
me. When the ‘coast’ was clear I quickly gave the beggar
some Indian rupees and some of the snack food I had in my
bag. My heart felt much better as I hastily made my way
inside the temple to mingle with the other tour members. I
noticed the limping beggar was already going down the hill.
He probably felt a little happiness at what he had received.
It was also in the 1996 pilgrimage tour that a trip was made to
do some charity at a village of beggars. The village was
situated in the state of Bihar in north India.

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Bihar is regarded as the most impoverished state in the whole
of India. Before we reached the village, the local guide had
briefed us on the do’s and don’ts for reasons of our safety.
We were advised not to simply hand out money, food or gifts
to the beggars because we could be swarmed by ‘packs’ of
other beggars. The charity done would be on an organized
basis with the help of the village chief.
Most of us were shocked at the deplorable conditions of the
village of beggars. Children, men and women came out of
their poor living shacks to greet us, many with hands
outstretched and palms open hoping to receive any money or
food. It was unbelievable to see so many children rushing to
grab at a few sweets thrown out to the ground by the local
guide. The poverty tugged hard at my heartstrings. One of the
lady members in our group was shedding tears at what she
saw. Before we could stop her, she took out from her bag
some packs of sweets and snacks wanting to give to the
children. The next thing we knew she was ‘attacked’ or
‘mauled’ by a group of children and we had to get the help of
the village chief to ‘rescue’ her.
I was given the task of distributing the donation money (in
Indian rupees ) and also gifts and packets of food. I could not
do this without the control and directions of the village chief.
With a long cane in his hand, he made the beggars of the
village, men, women and children squat in an orderly long
row, a sort of queue.

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Then I went from one individual to the next down the row
distributing the charity items that we had prepared before
hand. It was an unforgettable experience and I found my heart
choked with emotions.
Reflection
* Out in the world there are so many suffering ones, the
impoverished, needy and destitute.
* For too long, so many of us lucky ones have been living
in our own ‘comfort zone’, away from the Dukkha or
suffering experienced by so many in many places. We are
always caught up in the 4 C’s – Complaining, Criticizing,
Condemning and Cursing – with little constructive work to
reach out to the less fortunate ones, to do the little we can,
to bring a smile to others and to help our environment in
even little ways.
* Let us learn to count our blessings and be appreciative,
grateful and contented with what we have for there are so
many whose conditions are far worse than ours.
* Acts of charity are essential in the spiritual path. Only
then can we attain true happiness and peace.
* May our wisdom and compassion grow and may we
apply our Dhamma learning to lessen the suffering of the
unfortunate and bring a little joy to them.
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“ Reaching out to others with loving-kindness,
and practicing Bhavana with mindfulness
is important for true peace and happiness”
With Metta,
Bro. Oh Teik Bin