BEGGARS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS. CHOOSERS MAY BE BEGGARS.

Buddhist monks are not supposed to earn money. They receive the mercy of fellow brothers from their community. James Nachtwey published a Burma Aftermath photographic essay. Seeing a monk begging at the corner of the street reminded me of the habitual, accepted routine of Romanian monks and nuns. Mostly, the latter nation’s holy people beg for money that is supposed to roof a holy prayer edifice. Society came to see them as privileged beggars.

Nae Cranfil's Filantropica speaks about the smart tramp Romanian mafia. A lead of the film is the idea that one has to have a story to sell in order to trick people into becoming false philanthropists by bestowing their kindness on a stranger in need. He then points to the Police’s involvement, having hidden camera documentaries to back his point (not mentioned in the drama). But the privileged beggar in this case is a high school teacher who earns too little to impress his Lolita. Therefore, he resorts to the local beggars' godfather.

A few years ago, I was writing about a social home for under-aged. The institution was and is financed by the state. The case of a 12 year old socked me: he was found in Timisoara (West Romania) begging on the streets. His family lived in central Romania. He fled from home because he could not stand a drunken father, who forbids him to go to school. His father would knock him out if there was a god-given day when he would not bring money home for his booze. The social care staff, according to their regulations, could keep the child for only two weeks. After that, they returned the boy to his family.

There is no defined law regarding begging in Romania. For years I keep seeing very young gipsies at the traffic lights, hoping that the red colour will bring some petty cash. For years, this man, cotton stuffed in his years and wearing all his clothes no matter the season, fronts the entrance of the Lutheran Red Church. For years this child, now turned into teenager, goes from pub to pub 'selling' flowers or tiny calendars. For years single-legged, single-armed or injured fellows pop in the reeking 'personal' train, invoking God's name while stretching three fingers for a coin. Social home have not been able to host any of them, because the no smoking, no drinking, no doping policies do not suit them. Can protest for a better payment be considered a louder and legalised form of begging? It is not the action in itself that I’m not comfortable with, it is the fact that many Romanian professional categories - the most famous being the teachers - are left with no other choice.

Please also see

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1670047_1460842,00.html

UP IN SMOKE

Shisha is a custom that traditionally fosters conversation, debate and laughter. It is not smoked at home or alone. Take a stroll through London’s Little Lebanon – otherwise known as Edgware Road – and inhale the sweet smells of grape, apple and strawberry that spill from nearby shisha cafes. But the sand from the hourglass has almost run through. Despite customarily being the preserve of Arabic men, shisha smoking in London has extended its client base to include many women and non-Arabic men. However, two thirds of the people smoking it remain Arabic. The Amazon coffee shop is one Egyptian venue from Little Lebanon that wants to lose neither its clients nor a day’s profit that shisha can still bring. They’ve already prohibited smoking, except for the aromatic water-pipe. The July ban on smoking will confine shisha lovers to their homes, thus loosing the essence of the custom. But until the ban is enforced, the prohibition can only thicken the smoke and liven the debate coming out of the Arabic coffee shops.



Featured in aMuse magazine, 2007