VOL. 2 NO. 9
OCTOBER 2008 |
Bringing Connecticut’s Indian Community Together |
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| COLUMNS |
MUSINGS
SOME SIGNS
BY SUJATA SRINIVASAN
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We Indians
are a noisy, garrulous lot. Not only are we contented in
expressing to each other our opinions verbally, we write
it down for all to read on the highway. And the English?
Interesting, as Jeeves might have said. The snob. Here are
some gems from Tamil Nadu. I’m sure other Indian states
have their own jewels, but these are the ones I got to see
and ponder over.
‘Please Sound Horn Please OK’ – a legend on a polite lorry
up ahead says. On a not so polite lorry – ‘1 Child. Stop.’
Another offers some sensible insight – ‘Avoid Aids.’ A bus
has some advice – ‘We-2. Ours-1.’ Many lorries and busses
state the obvious – ‘Stop. Brake.’ Of course, I have ever
intension of stopping and breaking. But my driver decides
to follow the other legend ‘Sound Horn’ and swerves.
Luckily for me, the sign on a ‘Maxicab’ says ‘RELAX.’
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Talk about lorries living in
glass houses. A rickety gas-guzzler, surely held together
only with hope and prayer, splutters smoke unto all
directions from its exhaust. Yet it advises, rather
dramatically, one would think, ‘Save Oil. Save India’.
Next, the sticker on a bus reads ‘Proceed.’ Thank
goodness. Otherwise I would have waited endlessly in the
middle of the highway. ‘Air Bus. Ultra Deluxe’, states a
rickety and rambling jet-setter. ‘I love India Sound Horn’
– how are the two sentiments related? One wonders.
And then, the highway signs. ‘Speed Thrills. But Kills. Go
Slow’, a large, ominous warning. The legend on a National
Highway Authority of India dustbin says – ‘Dust Bin. Use
Me!’ It’s quite apparent why the dustbin states the
obvious. There seems to be nothing inside it but plenty of
rubbish around it. My dear fellow countrymen. Why?
‘Drive Friendly’ reads a sign. On it are two brightly
painted cars cozying up to each other. Some friendship,
that.
‘Apollo KH Hospitals. Fisherman’s Fare Highway
Restaurant.’ I don’t trust the pairing. Smells like a
fishy collaboration. A cement company aspires to cement
itself with its customers not just for life, but their
future Hindu reincarnations – ‘A relationship that lasts
from birth to rebirth to rebirth!’ reads an ad in Tamil.
We drive through a small town. ‘A-One Bra’ screams an
advertisement on a bright wall painted green. The ‘Tamil
Nadu Books and Fancy Store’ quite catches my fancy. Brings
to one’s mind old Mississippi riverboats that carried the
sign: ‘Gamblers and Fancy Women Not Allowed on Board.’
Hotel Susil Classic was keen to be known as ‘High Class
Vegetarian’, while Mr. Selvaganapathy was keen the world
should know he is a B.Com (Pass), evident by the board
hanging in front of his house off the highway. In the area
are ‘Kumar Cool Drinks’, ‘Indian Chicken Center’, ‘Babu
Speeda Meter Works’, ‘Job Typing Undertaken’, ‘Foode
Goode’, ‘Arun Tailors Gents Specialists’, ‘TOLET Shop’,
and a rundown store with the grandiose name ‘Taj
Paradise.’ Another store carries the sign ‘Jolly Shoppin’
and a restaurant announces ‘Tiffin Ready.’ One plaque
piques my curiosity: ‘Legrand Ideas.’ Another clearly
aspires to be international: ’Swiss Medicals.’ ‘VDM Cycle
Works’ – good to know the cycle works. English is
obviously not the strongpoint of the owner of ‘Sri Surya
Bio-Tek.’ Wonder if biotech is. An ominous warning? ‘Dawn
Bakery. Taste Once Never Forget.’
Indeed my drive was unforgettable. It is almost with
regret that I ask the driver “Are we there already?” when
we reach our destination. |
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Sujata
Srinivasan, a freelance business journalist, is the
editor of CT Indian Life. |
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