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| Picture taken by a fellow ETA. The Devanagari above is a very common expression (on buses): Aamaa Bubaako Aashirbad - "Mother and Father's Blessing" |
Other lovelorn expressions I have seen written on Kathmandu buses:
"LOVE POIJAN"
"DON'T BRECK MY HEART"
"LIFE IS TOO SHORT FOR LOVE"
Granted, this can be a welcome change from the saccharine schlock of the ever-present Bollywood love anthems. On the back tailgate of buses you often see two (sometimes three or four) English words printed. This is usually traffic advice to other motorists. This advice can seem confusing from an American perspective, but once you comprehend how buses operate here they become comprehensible. Some of the most common messages:
"40 KM"
"SPEED CONTROL"
"HORN PLEASE"
"SEE YOU"
"DRIVE SLOW LONG LIFE"
What I'm getting at here is that I think that if local bus drivers were to drive a bit faster and take fewer and shorter breaks such that the 300 KM flat highway stretch from Butwal to Kathmandu takes less than 15 hours (15 hours? Really? 2 pm to 5am?), I think they would have a bit more time to spend with their girlfriends and they wouldn't be so mopey all the time.