Odds and Ends from Chennai September 2007

Couple of months ago I did something that pleased my parents a lot. I joined them on a visit to see their guru (teacher). On the way I spent my time looking at other vehicles, the drivers, various billboards, and just about anything I could read. Here are some that sounded interesting

"We two, Ours One" - This slogan does not sound nice in English. Anyone who has heard of family planning (euphemism for population control) knows it sounded better in Hindi "Hum Dhow Hamaare Dhow". The important thing to note is; parents are now being asked to have one kid!! Growing up in India, the ideal family size was four; two parents plus two children.

Trucks that ply on the road have many interesting messages and slogan on the rear; such as "Conserve water" and the one we saw earlier "We two, Ours One" to name a few. But I am missing a very important one that is almost an order; "Sound Horn". Folks that have driven a vehicle in the US know that honking is akin to giving someone the middle finger!! Fist fights have broken out over this and here we have people asking for the horn!! Some of them even have a polite touch "Please Sound Horn" as if that made it palatable!!

There was a sign for a some training institute named "Pengvin". I wonder if their course material had one on spelling.

Driving through Chennai one sees some unusual sights; there was a priest dressed in his traditional dhoti, bare chested, but driving a motor cycle!! Another one was the sight of a conservative Brahmin lady dressed in a 9-yards sari and driving scooter. I never missed a camera more in my life.