Different shades of Despondency (Part II)

Few weeks ago I was driving back home with my mother and on our way home I requested her to stop at a very well known bakery and confectionery shop. I wanted to buy chocolates (for myself, obviously). My mother told me she would be waiting outside. As I payed the bill and turned back to exit the shop, I saw my mother enter and she asked me to place an order for a couple of patties. When questioned for whom, she replied "Not for you, fat-ass".

As we walked our way out of the shop, she offered the packed Patties to a woman sitting outside on stairs. Her son (probably 2 or 3 years old) was playing on the stairs next to her. For a moment I couldn't make out what just happened because my mother is a kind of person who would normally react to someone asking for money by advising them to work instead of beg. It didn't even struck me for once that maybe the woman might not have asked for money, but for food itself. I saw another man standing next to 2 guys on a motorcycle next to us. He pointed at the woman and the child and the 2 guys seemed to be in denial to whatever the man was saying to them. At last, they hesitatingly offered him a 5 rupee Chocobar, which was actually a change for the 1000 Rupee note they had payed at the counter few seconds ago.

Finally when we reached home, I asked my mother about the incident. She told that they belonged to a near-by village and had come to the town a month back. They worked in a well known restaurant for a whole month and at the end of the month when it was time for the owner to pay them, he not just refused to pay but even fired them from the job. Poor souls were returning to their village. They were begging for food because whatever money they had was spent in buying the ticket for taking a bus.

I couldn't take the whole thing in for a moment. I was angry at the couple for just returning back and not doing something against the wrong been done to them. But then it struck me, whoa! Why would they go to the police? The police have other important cases on their priority list and probably regular cases like these might not matter to them or the entire town's administration as a whole as much as the other cases do.

And ofcourse, even if they launch FIR against the restaurant owner, he would easily get away with it. A few rounds to the district court per week would not bother him much. But for the couple it would be a mental, emotional and financial strain provided that they were not the locals of this town and already struck in poverty!

I cannot understand how could the man just leave hardworking laborers to beg for FOOD! And how much could the sum of 2-3k matter to that prosperous owner afterall? Maybe he cheats hardworking and innocent people every month and that explains it. I wonder how many other workers in this unorganized sector get cheated by these big owners daily across the nation. And I wonder if they have a heart or a conscience in them.

PS- I'm aware that this is a very popular scheme amongst scammers these days in Metro cities.. but this incident took place in a low-key town and the satisfaction on the faces of the couple after receiving the package was one hundred percent genuine.