For a Backpacker, The hostel becomes his home away from home and his hostel mates become his family away from home. More often than not, The ice-breaking question between two Hostelers would be

"Hey, where are you from ?"

Rather than

"Hey, what do you do?"

Or sometimes even over :P

"What's your name?"

Since Mangalore is not really a tourist location for foreigners, my way of responding to that would be.

"Have you heard of Hampi?
I live in a coastal town nearby."

I would get an immediate nod for that all the time.

_{Hampi,Karnataka,India}

This is how popular Hampi amongst foreigners who travel to India

And why not?

The Village not just has ruins of the 13th-century monuments of the Vijayanagara empire, but also boast of having cliff diving spots, coracle boats and the perfect landscapes for bouldering.

On one of the bank's of the Tungabhadra river known as the Hippie Island, you'll find a series of shacks that serve as Restaurant and Resorts for Tourists. The ambience of these shack restaurants is so homely that it can't really be hard to start a conversation with a stranger.

What surprised me the most is the fact that you get Italian, French, Israeli and English cuisine in the tiny restaurants of this Indian village. I don't really know about the authenticity of the dishes but they sure taste great. On the odd occasion when it doesn't, you could just sip some beer and forget all your miseries.

_{My Tour Guides being all candid}

But Hold On!

I think I'm drifting away.
The purpose of this blog is not to tell you what Hampi has to offer, instead to let you about one of my encounters during my recent visit to Hampi.

So here I was, a solo backpacker biking towards one of the ruins on the outskirts of Hampi that has its connection to the Hindu epic Ramayana. Just as I reached my location and made sure I locked my bicycle, a couple of boys approached towards me and started feeling the fancy bicycle I rented for the day.
Well, I know this might seem strange and suspicious to some of you, but you generally see this kind of response when you go to an Indian village you carry anything that seems fancy or alien to them, so I just moved on and walked past the monument gates.

BPM enters the monument (Backpacking Monk if your still wondering XD)

Boys continue to shadow BPM

_{One of the ruins}

One of the boys initiates a conversation.

"Anna, Can we be your guide for these monuments?"

(Anna=Brother in Kannada)

What do you expect me to say for that?
Duh! Backpackers are always on a budget.

"Sorry, I can't afford a guide"

The other kid in response

"Rs50 for the each of us"

I retorted

"No means no"

His comeback to that

"Okay, 50Rs for both of us"

Well, These kids were definitely not employed guides by the Karnataka Tourism
Even though I was not sure how much they knew about local history, I admired the fact that these kids in spite of been underprivileged choose to work hard to earn their pocket money. Besides, 50 bucks in India is less than a US Dollar.
That is dirt cheap.
Also, as much as I love being alone while travelling, I also miss having some company. So I didn't mind agreeing to a Rs50 deal.

During the course of time, I realised how much these kids knew about the epic Ramayana and the past times of Lord Rama, Sugriva and Hanuman in the very land. They also told me about the contribution of the Vijayanagara rulers to develop this further to attract more pilgrims back in the 13th century.

Amazed by their knowledge of the Hindu culture at the end of the monument tour, I asked them about their schooling and I got to know that they just 4th and 5th graders.

I further asked

"what are your names?"

The elder one of those kids replied.

"I'm Nasif and he is Sherif"

_{Solo Portrait of Nazif}

_{Solo Portrait of Sherif}

I was taken aback for a second. These were not Hindu names, but Muslim. It was an overwhelming moment for me as an Indian due to the history of communal fights between the people of these religions.

Many people have lost lives in the process, Starting in early 600 AD to the present day. The very spot was standing was once destroyed by the Sultans of Delhi during the Vijayanagara empire reign. Today, we have two Muslim kids narrating the Hindu Mythology, as well as any Hindu, would.

I couldn't think of any better ambassador of peace at that of time. I was really proud and impressed with what I just witnessed.

Hence, I couldn't hold myself back from giving them an additional Rs100 which they genuinely deserved.

The Kids further request to be photographed with My DSLR which I Most happily obliged.