Aap ka aadmi kahan hai?

I am in Hampi. Its 7:30 pm in my watch, which means that most people in the village where I am heading, are already asleep. I am waiting at the highway hoping to hitch a ride back to the village. There is almost no light but for the paling yellow glow at the nearby teashop. The shrubbery is dense and I am trying to look as conspicuous as possible so that passing vehicles notice me.

I see several bikes zipping past me, one after another, but that does not deter my frantic waving. I am not going to spend the night in another unknown village.

After much of waiting and watching, a small carrier pulls into the teashop. The hopeful me shouts out to it and two young boys half my age pop out of the seats. After a brief spill of irrational kannada, they say, “Hindi?”

I say, “Yes yes, haan haan. Anegundi jaana hai.”

The taller one pauses briefly and states, “200”

“50”, I retort.

The one with the half tooth says, “Aap ka aadmi kahan hai?”

Eyebrows contorted I utter, “Kaun?”

Two blank incredulous faces stare back at me.

“Aap ka aadmi kahan hai?”

“Oh accha, aadmi nahi hai. Chalo abhi.”

While they look at each other, I plunk my backpack onto the vehicle. In a couple of minutes, we
are good to go.