Okay, kids are cute. Unless they are trying to sell
you sell you sell you (no, this is not a typo)
something. And that they are in Hampi. In a place
that soley exists for the tourists, the kids are
either self-employed, working for their parents, or
are too young (like five years old) to bring in any
money.
Here, unless the kids are really good at picking up
languages, most of them only know a few words or
phrases, which they then use randomly. Here are some
of the most common:
Hello
Hi (if they're feeling cheeky)
One/Two Rupee/s
Name of product (eg. bananacake)
Price of product (eg. twenty rupees)
Schoolpen
The last one is my favorite. I question how many of
the kids who ask for one actually knows what a
"schoolpen" is. In fact, I finally broke down and
gave a lone kid (I'd never ever do this when the kid
is in a group!) a pen after he asked for a
"schoolpen." He took it with surprise, and stared at
it for a half minute with confusion. Who would have
thought that a "schoolpen" was a pen? Apparently, not
him.
When a kid asks for something, and you say no, then he
takes the words he knows and mixes them together into
an annoying, sometimes unintelligible mess. For
example: "Hellohellohellohello bananacake hellohello
twenty rupees hellohello twenty rupees
hellohellohellohello." Yes, they really like to say
"hello," a lot.
Sure, kids are cute. Kids in Hampi...worth walking
out of your way to avoid.
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