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Muttu Kumar - Hampi, India
Name: Muttu Kumar
Location: Hampi, India
Biography:
The subject for our Global Lives Project shoot (India) is Muttu Kumar, an 18 year old boy guide living and working around Hampi, a village with historical ruins of the Vijaynagar Empire from medieval India. Hampi is one of the most scenic places of South India and the rich architectural beauty of the Vijaynagar dynasty has attracted tourists from across the globe. UNESCO has declared Hampi as one of its World Heritage Sites.
Drawing from these qualities of Hampi, Muttu Kumar attempts to earn extra money for his family, who reside in a village about 4 kms away which he visits once a month for 4 days. Normally he covers this distance on foot. His father, Chinnataambi, 42, is an ice-cream vendor and mother, Chandramaa, 35, is a house-wife. Muttu spends most of his time around the historical sites of Hampi taking tourists around the ruins of the temples and monuments. He gives them a thorough guide regarding the history of Hampi. Ideally, Muttu’s day begins early morning around 7 am. After attending to his basic daily chores, he waits at the Hampi bus stand, Hemakuttail for the tourists to arrive from the night bus from the major cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. On their arrival he approaches them with his services of a guide. As soon as both the parties agree at a common price, Muttu arranges for the lodging at the Rama guesthouse and a tour through the ruins of Hampi. Besides the payment by the tourists, he also gets a commission from the Rama guest house for bringing in tourists to stay. On the days when he doesn’t get any customers, he sells picture postcards of Hampi at the local market area. This provides him with an additional income. Muttu Kumar had to drop out of the local village school at the age of 12 because of the financial constraints of his family. But despite this, he can converse fluently in Hindi, Kannada and English besides knowing a fair bit of French. He learnt English and French from his interactions with the foreign tourists and as a result uses it as a marketing strategy to get more customers.
A short clip of Muttu's life:
Video (06:34) | Photos | Video (raw) | Crew Statement
