Kindness still exists in the tourism sector

Chitkul, Dharamkot, Kasol, Tosh, Keylong. Names whispered amongst travelers lest hordes of tourists land up and damage the fragility forever. Yet, in places previously inaccessible and preferred by only a few intrepid travelers, an unprecedented change has rapidly taken place.

Dharamkot, an idyllic village not even in the tourist radar a few years ago is not the hotspot of the urban young. Israelis who formed the bulk of the visitors can be counted in ones and twos, in a village recaptured by Indians.

But the story of tourism overdose in pristine lands is a tale often told. And no one seems to care.

What is unique is that tourism may have corrupted a few locals in the hills of Himachal, the vast majority of people still belong to an earlier era.

I have seen this again and again. Deep inside remote tourism hostpots, people still greet each other, wait for old ladies to climb the stairs and then respectfully offer them a lift to the nearest town.

I have seen drunken scooterists offering a lift in the darkness of night, without fear of an attack. I have perfectly sober people do the same.

I have seen trekkers help each other and tea shop stalls choosing to keep the price of maggi to under hundred rupees. The joy of eating maggi at 3000 metres and more is one of the best held secrets of the universe.

I have seen people offer free advice, again and again. I have seen gol guppa wallahs, sitting in the heart of a tourist market in Gandhi Square at Dalhousie give a few extra gol guppas to a keen tourist.

I have seen people give lifts again and again, an unique feature of the hills where public transport is scanty. I have seen tourists taking a lift in the a tractor, in the middle of Dharamsala bazaar. I have seen people stop me from eating, in case I miss the last bus and send me back hungry but also losing a valuable income source. 

I have seen people stop for hitchhikers, standing strategically beside a police check post. These random men, usually labour or mechanics or simple people returning to their villages after a day or nigth of hard work, go out of the way and help people reach home.

Above all, I have seen conductors being reasonable when a passenger does not have the requisite amount and the bus driver offering his google pay number so that he could pay on behalf of the tourist.

I have seen so many sights of the good face of humans that it begs the question - When exactly are we evil or rather this way, what makes us become kind.