Smart Begging

Location: In a Mumbai local train, between Ville Parle and Andheri at approx. 12:30 pm on a workday

Who: Two teenaged girls in school uniforms, satchels, a poster with a photograph of a baby and a transparent and sealed donation box standing at edge of a compartment, facing each other

The Speech: “May I have your attention for 60 seconds. This is the photograph of Shiv who is suffering from blood cancer and we are students from XYZ School (name changed). Shiv requires 30 lakh rupees for treatment, but belongs to a poor family, and we are trying to collect the money for them.

For you, an amount of 20 rupees or 50 rupees is not a big deal, but the sum of all your blessings will give life to a 3-year old boy. It could easily have been your child. Can’t why help him out? It is a sincere request to all of you to please give a small donation to save a dying life.”

The same speech was repeated in Hindi by the second girl.

What was really interesting was that it was a refreshingly new way to have people donate money in decent amounts. There was an element of surprise that helped catch everyone’s attention towards the act- people actually stopped texting on their phones, put their newspapers aside and even woke up from their naps, to lend an ear. Singing devotional or emotional songs by physically challenged was normal. This was new and thus, deserved attention.

Next, was to establish credibility. The whole idea of the school attire- uniform, satchels, two chottis demonstrated that the girls were school-going and were educated. Also, we Indians, are usually, in awe of people speaking in English. The communication was first done in proper refined English- well rehearsed and well prepared to have everyone listen. However, since some people will still not understand, the whole thing was repeated in Hindi by the other girl. Also, there was no overdoing in pleading to make the donation. That would have jeopardised the credibility.

Further, there was an emotional connect with the audience the whole time of the act. Since the girls stood facing each other with the posters, at all times, the audience could see the struggling and dying boy, his name and his poor family in a another side photograph on the same poster. The words used about the same situation applicable to one’s own child struck chords well. I could observe people twitch at that moment. The chosen time was such that the trains are not crowded and usually, the office going people and businessmen still travel for lunches, work, etc. This allowed time and space to understand the plea properly. Also, the child’s name was Shiva, a Hindu deity.

Lastly, the girls set a reference benchmark of what amounts they were expecting. No change of denominations less than 10, even 10 was considered as not applicable. The donation box (was sealed, to establish more credibility) contained notes of Rs 20, 50 and 100 denominations and was transparent for everyone to see and understand that other people are believing in them and are donating a fair amount to them.

Now, the Tata Memorial Hospital is a well-established and well known cancer hospital in Mumbai and there are several institutions that donate money to cancer patients through it. This act was, in itself, not as credible as others. No one would have heard of Shiva before or after this. There was no receipt given and the girls might never be seen again. They may have been true, one can never be sure. However, one sure thing is that credit to the girls or whoever behind this, to come up with this idea using concepts from marketing and human behaviour.

The result: The girls collected a cool Rs 250, one Rs 100 note and three Rs 50 notes in one act that lasted 60 seconds.

Welcome to the new age of begging.