I am a Tamilian, native of Bangalore but grew up majorly in Hyderabad. I also spent brief periods at Vijayawada, Bellary and Goa. So, when asked where I belong, my answer becomes a great conversation starter. People, especially the ones in Hyderabad(I did not want to generalise, but am forced to) found it difficult to fathom how I, a tamilian, native of Bangalore lived in Hyderabad.My etinicity bemuses them.
To make things easy, I stuck to "I am a perfect example of an Indian belonging to no where and yet every where." So, I take the liberty to point out that Hyderabadis are innocently funny, but are not aware of it. I love Hyderbad. It is one of the coolest places (if not the weather wise) to live in. May be some day I shall write about it. So, hitherto, Hyderabadis are funny and THEY DONOT KNOW IT.
Walk the roads on Hyderabad, you'll know what I mean. They have a habit of quoting and giving way too much information about themselves on the vehicles they ride and drive. From what I have observed, one can even get details about the rider's/driver's personality, favourites, caste and even the names of his/her children.
DISCLAIMER: The below mentioned one/two liners are not made up and are quoted as seen by me on the vehicles.
Starting with the motor bikes:
1st category:
They are the ones who acknowledge their donors.
These are some of the captions:
1. Mom's gift
2. Dad's gift
3. God's gift
2nd category:
This comprises the youngsters, teenagers mostly. Their quotes are mostly anti-girls. But, in reality these guys are the most desparate ones.
Some of the quotes I've seen on bikes:(Note the grades of increasing desparation)
1.No girlfriend no tension
2. Boy's friendship is best friendship. Girl friendship is like snake friendship.(well, who would want to be friends with snakes?? I do not even want to get into deciphering this statement)
3. Girls let me down, my bike lifted me (ahem ahem, if that is the case don't you guys show off your new bikes to your friends as your new girl,soulmate or with other feminine names?? Just asking..)
4. Names/images of their favourite actors. Just wondering, how much they can do with such limited space
3rd category:
The so called rebels. You find the funniest most profund(cough, sarcasm, cough) quotes written by them on their bikes.
1. Donot follow me, my path is dangerous
2. Donot follow me, I am lost and rediscovering myself (too deep bro, too deep)
3. Touch my bike and see if there is life after death (now, that is some after life talks I want to know)
Speaking of two wheelers, how can I not mention about activas, the rulers of the roads these days.
Found this one liner really witty and funny: Fearless and Gearless
The next category belongs to truck drivers. These quotes are Universal and not just found in Hyderabad. Trucks are always considered for publicizing social messages such as population control (truck drivers carrying the messages of popolation control- Mother of IRONY), anti-dowry campagins, messages to ward of evil effects of casting eyes etc. Here are some of them:
1. Hum do hamare do, now changed to Hum do hamara ek
2. Dulhan hi dahej hai
3. Buri nazar wale, tera moo kala
and the best of all
4. Dheere chaloge tho baar baar milenge, tez chaloge tho Hardhwar mein milenge
Coming to the cars,owners make the best use of the space available on the car's rear windshield and give every intricate detail of their likes and personal life:
1. First comes the lord worship: stickers saying "Lord Balaji's blessing, Sai baba's blessing"
2. Second, hero worship - Pawan kalyan rocks, Pawanism,NTR Junior rocks, Chiru for life
3. Then comes their caste. They very proudly flaunt their caste- Reddy's, Naidu's etc.
4. Names of their children- Aishwarya, Sushmita; Abhilash, Aniket etc. Nick names of the kids are also given in brackets some times. Aishwarya (pappu), Sushmita (pandu)
5. Acknowledgement yet again- God's gift, Mom's gift, Dad's gift.Most of the guys get their cars in dowry, ideally they should be saying "Father-in-law's gift, mother-in-law's gift."
6. Name of the car dealer- The stciker is left for years to rot- Maruthi motors, Advaith Hyundai etc
7. Name of their car service provider- Gem motors, Srinivasa motors
It looks something like this: (could not find real photographs, so decided to make one on Paint)
But, the best one liner that I have come across so far was on an auto and it read, "Could not afford a Volkswagon, thus auto." I applauded his wit.
