Afghan Journal: Baksheesh
Friday, May 30th, 2008Baksheesh, noun, (in parts of Asia) a small sum of money given as alms, a tip, a bribe. ORIGIN based on Persian ba k sis, from ba k sidan, “give.”
Want to hear something about the new Afghanistan? First, you have to know a little about the old Afghanistan, and the word is, “baksheesh.” And first, baksheesh must be considered in all of its meanings: “alms, a tip, a bribe.”
Alms: Afghanistan ranks among the poorest countries on earth. According to the CIA World Factbook, 53% of Afghans are below the poverty line, there is 40% unemployment, and in 2007, per capita GDP was $1,490, USD. But the Western traveler needs few of these factoids to intuitively sense the ugly truth they represent. On crowded streets in Kabul, beggars, many of which are women garbed head-to-toe in faded and filthy blue burkhas, crowd the “rich” Westerner, extending gnarled, sometimes scabbed hands, pleading for baksheesh. Old men in rags bearing semi-conscious children on their backs, or amputees from wars past, and men unable to rise from the street also ask for alms. Appearance alone suggests that there are few fraudsters among these indigent. The price of a salved conscience is cheap: 10 or 20 Afghanis earns words translated as “thank you” or “Allah bless you.” Gratitude can be had for between 20 and 40 cents, USD. This is one meaning of baksheesh.
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