Friday afternoons at the market
13 Oct 2009, 9:34 AM
Aishath Shazra
On soporific Friday afternoons, when most Maldivians gather for a family meal, a street corner in Male’ starts filling up with people. The sun is high in the sky when the beggars start taking up their positions on flattened cardboard boxes and polystyrene containers. In the shade near the fruit and vegetable market, they sit patiently, leaning against a flaking blue wall.
Abdul Raheem, 54, comes by with a wad of five rufiyaa bills. Jovial and smiling, he chats with the beggars. He has handed out money for the last 15 years. “I do it as charity,†he says. Other benefactors, mostly men, follow in rapid succession, dishing out notes of varying denominations. Friday is the most rewarding day of the week for beggars when the usual daily income of Rf30 (US$2) jumps to Rf200 (US$16).
Reasons
There seems to be an almost equal mix of women and men among the 23 beggars. Like Khadeeja Adam, 48, most look older than their age. “I was a dancer in the 70s, my stage name was Shiranee,†she tells me. She used to live in Villingili but a spot in the vegetable market has been her sleeping quarters for the past six months. A divorced daughter with six children who live in rented accommodation are her only kin. “She is too hard up to help me,†says Shiranee with a goofy toothless grin.
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