There ARE some advantages to being caught in inch-by-inch traffic. You wouldn’t think so, would you? Well, here’s one:

You can look at the vehicles surrounding you with great attention, because they are moving along with you for long stretches of time.

Today we went on a trip to Tumkur , a town that’s about 2 hours’ drive from Bangalore.

I could not get photographs of: 1. A lorry which said, All India Fright Transporters.

and 2. Another which said, MGR is God.

But..I did get the message on the back of this lorry:

jAnEy wAlEy, thErA khudA hAfiz

That means, Passerby, may God keep you safe.

And then I noticed something scribbled on the left-hand side of that message, and when we were close enough, I took this snap:

Here’s what the lines say, in Hindi:

ham chalthEy hain, chamchEy jalthEy hain yeh gAdee naheen mohabbath kA phool hai kaun kehtA ki Dilli Bangalore sEy dhoor hai

A rough translation:

We go on, the sycophants burn with envy This is not a vehicle, but a flower of love Who says that Delhi is far from Bangalore?

and

kabhee Athee hai, kabhee jAthee hai thadapthA cchOd jAthee hai lagAkar Ag seenEy mein bujhAnA bhool jAthee hai

which means, roughly…

Sometimes she comes, sometimes she goes, She leaves me twitching with agony After setting a fire in my heart She forgets to put it out

The spelling is not the best, nor the calligraphy…but the lines are so elegant….!