For a taste of unexplored culture, meet the Halakki Tribe next time you're in Gokarna!

Now that's the thing about tribes, we don't have much time to meet them as they are standing at the edge of being lost; forever. When I was on my backpacking quest from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, I met the Halakki tribe— existing in the north Kannada region of Karnataka. What makes the identity of this tribe truly unique is that they are popularly known as the tribe that has a song for every occasion.

I was in Gokarna swept by the beeches and the clear blue sky when a boatman suggested that I should meet the Halakki tribe. It amazes me still how so many Indias exist parallel to each other. So I took a 10 minutes ferry ride that now retrospect feels like a time machine, transporting me with hippieish Gokarna to the Halakki tribe.

Suddenly everything changed—from bikini beeches with techno music to the song of the birds, flying chicken and women who sing ever so graciously.

Sukri Bomma Gowda, is a singer from the Halakki tribe who was honoured a Parma Shri award for her songs in 2017. She's famed to be the nightingale of the Halakki tribe. You can visit her and if she is in the mood, she'd sing for you with love.

However, as we are losing the tribes in the whirlwind of modernisation, similar is the fate of the Halakki folks. The new generations is swept by the perks of modernisation and slowing the singing tradition is dying down. The traditional cool saree attire has been replaced by denims and dish TV has reached all the mud houses of the tribe. Wonder how much are we left with to experience the authenticity of a tribe this unique.