I MYSELF never knew my sadist or revengeful side. But in London, when I happened to see the weapon (Wagh Nakh), Shivaji Maharaj had used to kill one of his adversaries in a museum, I was angry. That weapon in the confines of a protected glass chamber in a foreign land brought tears to my eyes. Then the garish display of Kohinoor in the Tower of London as a prized possession made my heart skip a beat. The opulence, grandeur of the artefacts, gold vessels and jewels taken away from India and displayed as trophies of British valour and chauvinism mocks not only mine, but the conscience of all Indian visitors to London who invariably go to see the Kohinoor. One feels betrayed by Indian kings and nobles who were so weak kneed to surrender and save their own lives and riches at the cost of the populace by deserting them. It’s ironical that some of their decedents are still living cosy lives without having earned it. Many historians recorded and now accepted by many British historians too that, in East India Company’s garb, the English monarchy robbed wealth, close to forty-five trillion dollars from India. This heist, as most believed, had uplifted their economy for nearly hundred years since then.

Recently, we went shopping for groceries in Lidl, a shop in London. While going in, saw an old Briton dressed in a shabby suit and old dirty tie with a torn hat standing with a placard to help him buy dinner for his ailing wife. Though it’s quite common to see beggars in London, but sympathetic of his age and honestly overcome by a sadistic pleasure and a freak chance of revenge, to see a Briton begging from me, made me halt.

Just a cup of coffee made him pour his heart out. Wife is sick and mostly bed ridden at home and both can’t even have two square meals regularly. They have three kids but that’s all, none in contact. How much do you earn, I asked him. On good weekends, standing close to six to seven hours to take home some three or four pounds.

Who donates, I wondered aloud. “Mostly Indians,” he replied, adding further. “The Brits rarely go to the market with cash and like Americans, spend in advance of their earnings and by month end, they are broke, but Indians always save for a rainy day and would never go to the market without money in their pockets.”

He disclosed something which left me dumbstruck. “Indians are a devout community and during their festival days, they dole out charity.” Festival days? A Brit beggar knowing Indian festivals? Got me interested. As a young mechanic, he had once travelled to India to repair a car and thus knew a bit about Indian festivities and generosities associated with each festival.

“Indians are still deeply rooted to the ascetic way of life and take care of their parents, certainly the most holistic way of life and because of that divine connect, you are prospering today when the entire world is losing,” he added.

It was time for this old man to leave in search of the shopkeepers disposing off unsold food at cheap prices. I bought him fresh food for two and bid good bye. Glancing at him while turning the corner, I saw him standing and sobbing.

Remember Sant Kabir: “Sai itna dijiye, jame kutumb samaay,

mai bhi bhookha na rahu, sadhu na bhookha jaye.”