Travelling to work…can I do something for these street children?

To work from home means a journey of around 40 km in one direction – or just 80 km a day, fortunately in a cab, which I’ve been sharing with my nice colleague-friends. But it happens daily - each day I see them at almost all the signals, tapping on your car’s windows for your kind attentions – for just a rupee or two, so that, as they say with teary eyes, they can have a simple meal after a whole day filled of nothing else but hunger, or in fact, can give that to their parents or anybody else running that racket on that particular signal. Some of them in utterly pathetic states – almost at the last edge of humanity, waiting to fall off from it - crying or pretending to cry – very often with a fresh looking, dirty wound, to evoke sympathy from you, others begging cheerfully- a few with monkey-makeup or mustaches painted on their faces, others playing a doholak – a small, Indian drum, nearby. What strikes you the most is that almost all of them are in their tweens, or even less– the elder ones do not, yes, they DON’T beg – they, I believe, have been promoted after going through all this routines to the manager of that signal…or perhaps not, but yes, have matured into crimes or even prostitution, or, I hope not, may have died after suffering from years of malnutrition and not to mention, sniffing of erasing/thinner-liquids. Can I do something - other than lamenting that I cannot do anything? Would my donating a rupee to a couple of them each day make any difference…or even donating some couple of thousand rupees to one of those organizations with on-line, pay-pal accounts, proclaiming to be champion of – as I read somewhere - these children fallen through the cracks of society? Or will it help if I can teach them something – something they can’t even dream of – nothing fancy, but simple alphabets, counting, and a minimal of maths? Don’t know, but we’re about to reach our office , means that I have to come out of my slumber, look cheerful and energetic again…can anyone of you suggest something? Yogesh Mahajan IT Professional