Vehicle vernacular

Many may not agree with the existence of a genre called ‘truck literature,’ as it is not a well-defined category of literature. However, through the economy of words, it, as a part of folk literature, reflects the lives of those involved in the driving profession, not only encompassing their experiences of hope and disappointment, happiness and sorrow, life and death, joy and pain but also imparting profound messages applicable to everyone.

Though it is difficult to pinpoint a date of origin, there is a long-standing tradition, especially in South Asia, to write messages on the bodies of buses and trucks. In Pakistan and some parts of India, such vehicles even become canvases for art. In Nepal too, witty snippets written on buses and trucks. Perhaps because of the influence of the Hindi language, a truck’s body in Nepal is often versed in Hindi.

    TATA se chalkar aae, Birganjme singar huwa Malik se byahan gae driver lekar farar            huwa.

But considering the audience, Nepali is the most dominant language found on the bodies of trucks running in Nepal. The influence of the English language has also been inevitable in recent years.

The theme of ‘love’ is most recurrent in truck literature. The mobile profession of a driver is often compared to transitory love affairs. When away from the house and family, it is natural to long for them and in their absence, the drivers, apparently, search for new partners. Therefore, they do not hesitate to tease girls on the way or at the destinations they reach; maybe not directly, but through the inscriptions on their trucks.

    Fanakka farki nahera Kanchi haranko taalai  ma Jhilke chaa khalasi Kiss khala gaalai        ma !

However short-lived these love affairs might be, they don’t seem to faze these drivers and their confidence in the pursuing, and making, love as professed on the following verses:

      Jindagima love gariyo kati kati Dhoka paiyo alikati!

     Thikaee cha Parvati Khutta vaye jutta kati kati!

The probable expectation that the girl in question might get attracted to or sometimes, even fall in love with the driver is also expressed on the back of trucks:

Maya basalera chhodi najau Alapatra pari mero pran naleu!

The driver’s worried lover desperately scans passing trucks and is surprised when she reads:

     Galti bhae khsyama gara Driver ko bhara napara!

Her waiting becomes more dire when she learns that she has been cheated on. Moreover, she feels frustrated when her character is questioned by the lines:

      A anjanaima maya garna khojne nani Ramro chaaina jasto cha hai timro bani!

Drivers seem equally conscious as they are confident vis-à-vis lovemaking. Taking love as a reference, they forward strong suggestions too.

      Phul tipi basna naleo Prem gari dhoka nadeu!

They are as ready to abandon their loves as they are to discard their tattered shoes but sometimes, they advise others to be conscious about not deceiving others. They are, to quote Tulasi Bhattarai, “helpless but careful.

Though they don’t speak, they write on the vehicles” to inform others about what they intend to say. Vexed by shameless passengers who try to avoid paying the fare, the drivers paint with words:

         Phul ho gulabko basna lidaijanus Gaadi ho garibko, vada dina nabhulnus.

These expressions on the body of the trucks are not only limited to love affairs but also provide suggestions and advice. “Hatar nagara dai swargama thaau chaina” is a message for impatient drivers as well as those musing on probable accidents that can take place because of unnecessary haste.

Truck inscriptions also make desperate requests. “Keep peace in Nepal” is a common refrain that doesn’t fail to tug at most Nepalis. They even make a request to live and let live. The humanitarian slogan “Bancha ra banchna deu” is further intensified when a truck compounds it with an urgent addendum—don’t kill journalists!

        Patrakar mulukko sachetak hun Yinlai marna paidaina!

Reflections on patriotism are another characteristic features of such kinds of literature. Surely expressions like “Mero desh mahan cha” and “Nepal pyaro cha” stir up nationalistic feelings. Truck inscriptions are also helpful in nationalising local areas through names like Pathivara Darsan, Dakchinkali Yatayat, Lumbini Carrier etc.  

Verses on bodies of buses and trucks sometimes satirise the ills of politics. Expressions like   “kasto lagyo Naya Nepal?” “dekhiyo Naya Nepal” make fun of politicians who have used the banner of ‘New Nepal’ to further their own political ideals.

More importantly, sometimes the lines on the canvas-bodies of trucks lead the audience to think seriously, as when a truck carries “maile ke galti gare ra?”

     As a whole, truck literature, through glib expressions, carries themes of love and separation, memory and forgetting, request and rebuff all together. At the same time, these messages echo the feelings of our driver brothers who work like machines, with machines and allow those very machines to speak like humans.