By: Shazia Yousuf
From what I had learnt in my English language class during school days, I was pretty certain of the fact that "beggars cannot be choosers". For if beggars could choose, this idiom would lose its essence and we would have to come up with a modified version for this. But one fine day, this certainty became quite an uncertainty.
I was at the Naheed Super Market for some household errands. I happened to have very little cash with me, just enough for the stuff that I had to buy. When I was done, I was left with just a few coins totaling about five or seven rupees only. I usually keep these coins in a special coin pouch and I use them for handing over the exact change when I have to ask my driver to buy "roti" (bread) for him from "tandoor" (public oven), as he is usually not too fond of returning the change!
Anyways, as I came out of Naheed Supermarket, I started walking towards my car. That walk is usually not an unaccompanied walk, for there are quite a few people doing their day jobs right outside the supermarket known as begging. So, I was also followed by an elderly man.
