My mother had told me once that even in my pre-school days I used to look at the glittering signages on the sidewalks and tried deciphering the alphabets. This is in no way to claim that I was a precocious child. On the contrary I found that I was nearly two years older than the youngest chap in my batch of engineering. Much later, while my colleagues in service moved on to a more rewarding passion of birdwatching, I got stuck as a hoarding watcher. In my poor defense I must say that there are interesting stories behind apparently dead hoardings too - provided one has the patience to explore. I urge the readers to try it. The following snaps were taken during the course of two recent morning walks.
This is an advertisement for ‘Fortune IAS Academy’. It says in Malayalam that you need Fortune, not luck, for getting in to IAS.
Where has the ‘O’ gone? Silently under the shadows.
You normally do not associate jewels with a hut. Yet, you catch attention by contrast. This could be what is referred in Hindi as गुदड़ी के लाल.
The dilapidated building left me confused. ‘Meet and Bite’ invitation was definitely not for coquettish young lovers. Was the message for ferocious parliamentarians and lawyers or for tired and hungry tourists?
I wish I could show you a more zoomed image. This is Padma Café near the Government Secretariat in Trivandrum. On the right side of the hoarding it is written: ഒരു സ്ത്രി ശാക്തീകരണ സംരഭം . It means: Women Empowerment Initiative. The date of establishment on the hoarding is shown as 1934. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule (1827-1890) in Maharashtra and Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) in West Bengal would be proud of this venture. I mused that the founders of this hotel sought liberation of women through their daily inevitable chore.
Maybe, the only state in India that can claim to have Water Metro: Kerala
A graffiti : An extra ‘E’ has been surreptitiously smuggled in.
The tailor probably came to ‘blows’ often with his customers. ‘Stitch and Alteration for Mens and ladies’ was not convincing enough so he resorted to ‘All Alternation Works’ to remove all doubts.
When in God’s own country, why settle for simple vibes?
This is such an amazing collection,Sir. Every Board tells a story :)
Very keen observer