Unexpected scene: Is this a chennai thing?

Recently, I went to Chennai for an interview. I arrived way too early-around 10 AM-while my interview was scheduled for 2 PM. To pass the time, I went to a juice shop in Perungudi, ordered a lemon juice, and decided to wait there for the next three hours.

During that time, something unusual caught my attention. Around 10-15 people came to the shop, one after another, and asked the shop owner for money as if it was their right. Surprisingly, the shop owner gave each person 2 to 5 rupees without any hesitation. After taking the money, they simply moved on to the next shop and repeated the same thing.

One woman came and asked for money. When the owner handed her 2 rupees, she said, "We're two people," and the owner immediately gave her another 2 rupees. This went on for the whole three hours I was there. If around 30 people visit a shop like this every day, that’s easily 100 rupees spent just on handing out small change.

Now, I’m not against helping the poor-but what struck me was the attitude of these people. They came almost like daily customers, with a sense of entitlement. Most of them appeared to be able-bodied and didn’t look particularly poor either.

I’ve never seen anything like this in other places. Is this a common thing in Chennai? What’s the story behind this practice?