Sometimes it is so difficult in life to know what is right. I am not even sure if this experience is worth sharing as many in Mumbai must have had the same one.

It so happened that I was out for my usual evening walk yesterday evening. As I crossed a particular street I saw ahead of me a family standing on the pavement - a husband and a wife carrying their daughter in her hands. It looked like they had come from some small town and seemed lost. In a minute, I knew what was in store for me. But since the traffic had picked up I couldn't have crossed to the other side. So I marched on.

When I passed next to them, they stopped talking and the woman turned to me. I stopped in my tracks thinking that there was still a chance that they could be looking for directions to some place. The woman started telling me that they had just come from some village and that her husband doesn't have any job yet in the city. I knew that my worst suspicions were confirmed. I have heard the same story from others on the same road. It has become a new money-making business.

I shook my head and marched on. A little distance away and I wondered that perhaps I should have waited to see if she mentioned the "M" word. I was sure that 99% she would have. But I wasn't sure I had done the right thing by not taking that 1% chance. They could have been in genuine need though I had no means of making sure of that. But in any case, if she had asked for money I could have said that I was out for my evening walk and wasn't carrying any.

I have resolved to do just that next time I find myself in a similar situation.