A friend was going to Calcutta by train and I had gone to the station to see him off.
As we waited on the platform a little girl came up to beg. She was about ten and holding a newborn baby in her arms.
My friend was annoyed. He took a coin from his pocket and threw it at her. “Go away,” he said. The girl looked hurt and left.

After the train left I noticed the girl at the end of the platform searching for food in the garbage. I went up to her. She looked a little embarrassed. “What is your name?”
“Ranu”, she said in a soft, frightened voice. “The baby is my brother. He’s only a month old. I beg everyday. I bring the baby with me so my mother can cook. When people see me with the baby they give me money. When I was begging on my own I didn’t get so much. I live with my parents, two brothers and a sister. We all live on the other side of the platform.”