Horn. Ok. Please ! Highway on my mind!

Travelling on Indian highways is like hallucinatory potion of sound and spectacle; a potpourri of sensory overload, an exhilarating, unforgettable experience! I happened to travel a lot between Bombay and Gujarat, by road last week. For me, the experience is always a matter of huge interest, curiosity and immense enchantment! 

I am in complete awe of the trucks running on highway! No, my lunacy isn't infused with fresh bout of energy. You have read it right. I simply love observing trucks while travelling. I know, the incessant blaring horns from the truckers and their dangerously brash attitude clearly indicating that it is your job to avoid close encounters with them if you wish to stay alive irrespective of how their trucks are driven, creates frenetic chaos. But in spite of all that, I still admire interesting character those trucks bring on road. Each truck has a unique personality that tells a lot about the owner/driver and depicts some story.

I have great respect for the truckers (not for their driving skills) who despite their difficult circumstances of long hours of driving bring so much life on highways through some amazing art displayed on their vehicles. It is impossible to miss trucks of various sizes, painted in incredibly vibrant colours darting by if you are travelling by road in India. They are art galleries in motion; showcasing hand-made masterpieces of stunning illustrations, fascinating graphics and very unique indigenous typography, all hand painted by hundreds of unknown artists! How I wish I could take photographs of so many interesting trucks with vivid colours and quotes but with my car being driven at 120 kph, it was a huge challenge.  

The stress of driving on highway sometimes can get on your nerves but the interesting quotes on the back of the trucks keep you thoroughly entertained. The quotes/slogans are strategically written above the painting of village belles, scenic beauty, local/national heroes or God and Goddesses. In absence of any elaborate art work, the quotes are written at the center in bigger fonts. Most of the quotes are profoundly philosophical, some patriotic and socially relevant while some plain silly and truly hilarious and yet have mass appeal! 

Can you imagine how uninteresting and flat the drive on highway would be without those trucks with beautiful hand painted art and incessantly entertaining quotes? Let me share some of the best quotes I read that made me giggle throughout my travel. Pardon me for not providing the translation in English as the meaning would be really lost in translation. 

  

"Tanik dheere chalo, kaheki jaldi?"

"Maalik ki zindagi fruit aur cake pe, driver ki zindagi steering aur brake pe."

"Kaun kehta hain maut aayegi aur main mar jaaunga main to Dilli ka driver hoon, cut marke nikal jaaunga."

"Hasna mat varna pyaar ho jayega."

"Jatt risky after whisky"

"Chalo ek baar firse ajnabi ban jayen hum dono"

"Pass mat ana chhamiya kuch kuch ho jayega"

"Chalti hain Gadi udati hain dhool, nikalta hain paseena bikharte hain phool"

"Soch ke dekho saath kya jayega" 

"Kabhi sidese ati ho kabhi pichese ati ho,
meri jaan horn de de kar kyon muze satati ho"

"Kismat azma chuka muqadar azma raha hoon,
ek haseena ki khatir truck chala rahan hoon"

"Ya to muzse pyar kar, ya fir bardasht kar"

Do you remember any quote that has still stayed with you even after the journey got over? Please feel free to add them to the list!