Dude beggars

MiD DAY discovered that they were disciples of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who runs the Art of Living spiritual movement from his headquarters on Kanakapura.

Men and women trying to camouflage their affluent breeding and chic clothes are going about begging in south Bangalore. People at signals were startled yesterday to find smart, English-speaking men and women seeking alms. The beggars, with grime smeared on their faces, looked like characters out of a college play. Motorists, shoppers, and pedestrians dropped small change into their hands, but continued to gape. The beggars bought food with the money they had earned from begging, and ate in public.

MiD DAY discovered that they were disciples of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who runs the Art of Living spiritual movement from his headquarters on Kanakapura.

Thumbs up: The beggars at BTM Layout had tried to mess up their clean clothes with grime. They posed for MiD DAY but wouldn't tell us who they were. pics\Ramesh HS

The beggars, it turned out, were well-bred professionals told by their instructors to go "lose the ego" by begging. "Our areas are frequented by educated beggars from Sri Sri's ashram," said a resident of BTM Layout.

"They come in batches, beg, and feed themselves." South Bangalore extensions such as BTM Layout, Jayanagar and Banashankari are often flooded with dude beggars wearing Nike tracksuits. Disciples who register for some personality development courses are put through the routine of begging, said a source. They are asked to beg so that they can "conquer" their self and rid themselves of inhibitions. "It's an exercise that works on Buddhist principles, which emphasise sacrificing the ego," said an AoL volunteer.





Till 3 pm

STYLE GURU: The beggar MiD DAY tracked was clearly star-struck, and wore his hair like his guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (above)

The beggars we spoke to shared their email IDs with us. They were fluent in English and Hindi, but refused to talk about their act.u00a0

"Don't ask us anything," said a beggar. "Our exercise ends by 3 pm today. We will be able to talk about it only after August 12."u00a0

Such beggars are common on buses on Kanakapura Road, especially between south Bangalore extensions and the ashram.

"We were astonished to see them," said Chandru, a bakery owner in BTM Layout. "They are so cultured they don't seem like beggars."

Cops' angle

Begging is illegal and the dude beggars can be rounded up.

"They haven't taken any special permission from us," said D Sudhakar, Karnataka's social welfare minister. "Such permission can't be given either."

AoL's public relations machinery, always eager with press notes about the guru, clammed up when MiD DAY sought a reaction for this story.

"We can't comment... most teachers are travelling and Sri Sri Ravishankar is on a temple tour in Tamil Nadu," said Sham, an AoL volunteer.