Auto drivers with a poetic flourish

Rachana Ramesh | NT
Bengaluru

During the long waits amid Bengaluru’s bustling traffic, there are numerous things one will notice. Big billboards and signages with directions are common sightings. But the writings that are found on the rear part of the autorickshaws scattered in traffic are the ones that catch the attention.

Kaustuba and Vikas, both working professionals in the IT field, have provided these writings as an online platform. “We always came across these chuckle-worthy lines on vehicles, mainly in Bengaluru. In our hometowns, Udupi and Hassan, this phenomenon wasn’t very prevalent,” said the duo.

They began to see this genre of art as an expression of the personalities of the auto drivers rather than just pointless ramblings. “One poem in particular spoke about the uncertainty of life, by comparing it to idli and vada batter caught our attention. This was what made us think about starting an instagram account,” they said.

While there were a couple of tumblr blogs or photos posted on somebody’s personal account, there was nothing that acted as a collective online forum for these writings. The writings are also not restricted to a single language, requiring translation and annotation, to reach a wider audience.

“So we thought we should do it. On June 22, 2017, we started the account and put our first post,” they said. “The most challenging aspect of translation is maintaining the rhyme scheme as well as the emotion of the original lines. We try different methods depending on the poem. Sometimes we transliterate to English in addition to translating, sometimes we make use of “Kanglish”, a mix of Kannada and English, but most of the times we try and find the right English words that we hope would do justice to the original Kannada work,” the duo said about translating these writings.

The commonly found themes in these auto writings are about break-ups or the rejection of a prospective lover. “There are many shades to this expression. Some are angry at the girl. Some are still hopeful about a second chance. Some end up rejecting the idea of love itself. Some start giving advice,” the duo said.

The next most frequent theme is the one where the poet pits the lover against the mother. Mothers always have the upper hand in this category of poems. However, the themes are ever evolving with the age and the circumstances of the poet. “A young driver talks about love. Someone a little older talks about mother vs lover. Some are fuelled by their ambition, especially those that migrated to the city from a small town. Hometown pride is a major recurring theme as well. Middleaged drivers write about more philosophical topics,” they noted.

There are times when these writings also get dark, covering the ideas of fatalism and the futility of life. “My favourite is any theme that is hitherto unseen. So in a way I like the ones that reflect the goings on of the world. The driver- poets are very current affairs savvy. They write lines about topics as varied as Covid- 19, NATO, politics, caste identity etc. Of late we have seen a number of tribute poems to the late actor Puneeth Rajkumar,” said Kaustuba.

The photos featured on the Auto Poetry Instagram are usually taken during traffic, making it difficult to make real time conversations with the auto drivers. Over the years, the duo has spoken to a handful of them. “They are happy to talk to us, but they don’t see it as a big deal. For them it is as routine as decorating their workstation or updating their social media profile or status in the offline world,” they said.