-CP Aryal
Ramri keti ki ta ghamandi hunchhey ki ta murkha (A pretty girl is either too proud or a fool) reads the message on the back of a bus on Ring Road, painted in distinctive bold colours. Colloquially labeled ‘Truck Sahitya’, these whimsical little sayings and slogans can be found etched on the facades of most buses and trucks plying the roads in the country, making for what many passengers and passersby agree are very interesting sights.
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| Photo: CP Aryal |
Heavy vehicles not just in Nepal but in many parts of South Asia are often embellished in this manner, the outside surfaces proffering a canvas of sorts for artistic, and in this case, literary expression. Being that these vehicles are constantly on the move, their customised messages—ranging in theme from love, sex, patriotism to political discontentment among others—are thus carried across long distances, providing an aesthetic and very often humorous break in the monotony of road travel. A particularly lovely little scrap splashed across a tempo said—Lipsi laageko timro kaleji ooth mero afnai kalejiko tukra ho ki jasto lagyo (Your lipstick-coloured lips could very well be a piece of my heart).
