New Delhi: Maharashtra BJP MLA Parag Shah, who owns assets worth around Rs 4,000 crore, spent four hours begging on the streets of Mumbai to experience life from the perspective of an ordinary person. During this period, people gave him a total of Rs 84.
Later describing the experience, he said it taught him lessons about human behaviour, humility and the way people judge others. He said the idea came from his Jain spiritual teacher, Shri Namramuni Maharaj, who advised him to become a beggar for a day. Shah said the experience made him understand that a person’s identity is not defined by wealth, caste, religion or social position. “I begged on the streets of Mumbai for four hours, and people gave me a total of Rs 84,” he said.
The MLA followed the advice and went out without revealing his identity. He visited a railway station and sat there among other people seeking help.
Shah said he left his home and went to a railway station, where he sat and asked people for help. Shah said he handed those items to a police officer. Later in the evening, I went to collect the same items as Parag Shah,” he said. The BJP legislator said people reacted in different ways when he asked them for money. Some extended a helping hand without knowing anything about me,” he said.
He recalled that police officers watched him with suspicion during the exercise. He also recalled an interaction with a woman who gave him some items used in the kitchen. Later in the evening, he returned to collect the same items as Parag Shah. “I went from home and sat at the railway station. During this time, the police were looking at me with suspicion. A woman gave me some items used in the kitchen. I handed them over to a police officer. Some people scolded him, some ignored him and others offered help without asking who he was. “Some people scolded me. Some ignored me.
