The pen seller in the mean streets

A few months ago, a short video was shared widely on social media. An old man stood at a traffic signal with a bunch of pens. When someone tried to give him money, he refused. He said he was not begging. He was selling pens.

People liked that. Many comments praised his self-respect. Some people went back and bought more pens than they needed. Buying felt better than giving money. It felt fair. Once you notice it, you see this everywhere. At traffic lights, outside metro stations, near temples and markets, people sell small things. Pens, handkerchiefs, flags, balloons. The items change. The set-up stays the same.

A pen that costs a few rupees is sold for twenty or fifty. No one is buying it for the pen. The pen is only there to complete the exchange.

Selling changes how need is seen. It makes the situation easier to deal with. The buyer feels they did something right. The seller gets cash. The moment ends. This is how patterns spread.

When something works, others copy it. Not because anyone planned it. Simply because it brings money. Slowly, it becomes normal.

What gets missed is the harder question. Why is this the best option available? Once need is shown as effort, the larger problem fades away.

Selling pens does not fix jobs, housing, or support systems. It only makes these problems easier to live with. The situation stays the same.

On its own, the act feels kind. At scale, it becomes something else. When a temporary fix starts working, it does not stay temporary.

Good intentions do not stop this. They often help it grow.

The move from asking for money to selling small items did not reduce hardship on the streets. It made it quieter and easier to accept. The discomfort did not disappear. It just moved out of sight.

If this pattern keeps repeating, it is not because people do not care. It is because the gap is being filled in the easiest way possible.

That gap belongs to the state.

Street selling of small items is not a plan. It is a signal. It points to missing work, weak support, and no safety net for people who fall out of the system.

There are known ways to reduce this dependence: short-term cash support; shelter that is safe and easy to reach; work programmes that do not depend on daily luck at traffic signals; and basic health cover.

None of this is new. Most of it already exists on paper. What is missing is reach and follow-through.

When these systems work, people do not need to sell pens to prove effort. They can rely on something more stable.

Buying a pen feels like a small act of kindness. It is not wrong. But it should not be the main response to a problem this large.

The job of the individual is to care. The job of the state is to reduce the need for these exchanges in the first places.

Until that happens, we will keep mistaking coping for a solution.

vishnu00027@gmail.com