“As you can obviously see, travelling is an issue with me. However, I wouldn’t miss coming to Karachi during Ramazan,” says a beggar on a small wooden wheel cart ‘stationed’ at Zamzama. “I could have come here by train but it is easier to travel by air as the airport staff is very cooperative when transporting invalids to the plane,” he adds.

Asked how he can pay for the airfare or even the train ticket for that matter, the beggar smiles broadly to show his gold canine tooth. “It wasn’t that much. And I see it as an investment because I expect to soon make up for what I have spent to be here in your big city,” he adds.

Karachi is hit by a ‘tsunami’ of beggars around this time every year. Ramazan is after all a charitable time to give away zakat for which there are plenty of takers. All they have to do is to press the guilt buttons of the after-iftar Eid shoppers outside the shopping plazas and malls and the money comes rolling in. This is why small, underfed children in tattered clothes are the most in demand, from the beggar mafia’s point of view.

“Baji, my beti wants shiny bangles for Eid,” demands one well-fed beggar woman outside the Gulf shopping centre at Teen Talwar, Clifton. The daughter bears no resemblance to the mother and could be a dihari ka bacha (rented child for the day). When this is pointed out to her, the woman, after several denials, gives in. “Baji, she is my brother’s daughter. My family is in Punjab,” she says, but then adds, “But my daughter in Punjab is as old as this girl and doesn’t have bangles for Eid,” coming right back to the point.

When asked about why is she here, the woman simply shifts to mute gear and turns away, dragging the child by her hand. Suddenly there is a loud clap in front of my nose. “Piyari baji, talk to me. I am from Punjab too,” announces the eunuch. “I have come from so far, won’t you talk to me baji?”

Asked about his reason to come to the big city, he says, “The guru here called our guru in Punjab who then sent four of us to Karachi. Others wanted to come too but we ran out of money for the fare. We came via coach. This is a great place. The people of Karachi are very generous!”

And with that he also gets down to business, “Give me Rs500 if you can’t spare Rs1,000. God will bless you with a chand sa boy. God listens to our prayers, always!”

With beggars bagging every nook and corner of the city, it’s hard to ignore their existence. But there are those who actually even manage to capitalise on this situation. “Yes, I know there is a huge influx of beggars during this time; the more the merrier,” comments the owner of a small tea shop and tandoor at the Defense Phase-II commercial area. The beggars sit in long queues on the footpaths and even on the road to be served food by the tandoor management.

We are paid to cook and serve them by various people. They are good for business,” says the owner. Few, if any, are concerned that these beggars block the already congested commercial area and pester people who’ve stopped for a bite at one of the better restaurants and snack bars.

Obviously, this affects the business of these eateries. Says the manager of one snack bar: “It is the tandoor walla’s plan to ruin our business. He is working on an agenda in cahoots with another restaurant. The owner has already made us a cheap offer to buy us out. We know that the moment we agree to sell, the beggars will disappear.”

Meanwhile, three little beggar girls are sitting enjoying their kebab rolls while exchanging notes about what they will wear for Eid. One even has a lawn print in a plastic bag. “The one I have at home is even nicer. It has more flowers,” she boasts, “I will wear a glittery jora that my cousin will be getting for me from Hyderabad in a day or so. She will join us here too. She says she will buy me matching clips from here. My uncle has already found her a spot to beg during the day but she will join us here in the evenings,” she informs her friends who all seem delighted.

When asked if her cousin was coming here to beg during Ramazan, the girl giggles and answers in the affirmative before all three run away.

The roads around Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine are also fuller with the visiting beggars in town. “The buses and coaches come directly to this spot, where even the sea is just a stone’s throw away. We have no difficulties here. Delicious, spicy food is provided to us all the time in the form of the various langars and we get to spend the nights here, too, at a very reasonable rent,” says one malang with long unkempt hair.

Asked who charges them the rent, the man points towards a young man in dirty white shalwar kameez, who quickly walks away after declining to speak to this scribe. — S.H.