Truck art is probably the only good thing about trailing a truck. A show of grafitti has a reader looking for meaning beyond the peeling paint.
Vipul Rawal
Driving down the highway, I noticed each truck had something written at the back. Some lines were funny, some philosophical and some downright stupid. I decided to find out what these lines meant.
The most common inscription on a truck is ‘Horn OK Please’. I asked many truck drivers what it meant, but none had any clue. They said they wrote it because everyone else did and it was mandatory. The RTO insisted on it, I was told. Now, I found this very funny. Why the RTO should insist on such a line is beyond my understanding. Some day I will ask the RTO about it.
The second most common line I've come across is 'Use Dipper At Night'. The spellings depend on how educated the painter is. The various spellings of 'dipper' that I have come across are 'deper', 'deeper', 'diper', 'dapper' and even 'diaper' on one occasion. I discovered that it was meant to ask motorists not to use a high beam light and switch to low beam at night.
Another common line on the back of trucks is 'Buri Nazar Wale, Tera Muh Kaala'. Translated in English, it means 'you, with an evil eye, is black in the face'. This, the truck drivers say, is to ward off the evil eye.
Once, I noticed a truck with a peculiar line, 'Seth Bada Dildar Hai, Lekin Chamcho Se Pareshan Hai'. Translated, it means, the owner of this truck is very generous, but is fed up with sycophants. When I asked the driver why he had scribbled such a line, he told me that it was just to please the owner.
A lot of trucks with Himachal Pradesh registration have the words 'Pahadi Nagin' written at the back. A driver told me that the 'pahadi nagin' or 'snake of the mountain' is highly revered and feared in Himachal Pradesh. Drivers equate their trucks with the pahadi nagin which can slither itself out of any situation. Many trucks from Rajasthan have ‘Bishnoi’ written on them. I didn't know then who or what the Bishnois were but now everyone knows them, thanks to Salman Khan. Then there are trucks with Fauji written on them, which obviously means they are owned by ex-servicemen or their kin.
However, my favourite line was the one I came across on a truck parked at a roadside dhabha. It said ‘Jija Nav Tan, Saali Tana Tan'. It means that the brother-in-law carries nine tons of weight, whereas the sister-in-law is sexy. I located the truck driver who was also the owner of the truck. Over a glass of country liquor, this guy from Haryana told me that he had a massive crush on his sister-in-law and therefore he had those lines written on his truck. I asked him if his wife didn't mind. He told me that in Haryana, it is not a taboo to flirt with sisters-in-law.
I returned home and told my wife that I intend to migrate to Haryana. That proposal has since been shot down and my highway rides have been seriously curtailed by my wife.
Everyday, life gives us our share of laughter. Share it with us at speakup@dnaindia.net
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