Sunday, August 05, 2007

Bus Nomenclature

During my recent Dhaka-Sylhet trip, I paid attention to the busses (well, if you are going on any highway in Bangladesh, you have no choice, because, by their aggressive driving, busses make sure you pay attention to them.) But cussing them gets boring after a while, so I started reading their names. Soon I had a list.

For some, family was important:
BAI BAI (brother-brother - or, wait, maybe it is meant to be BYE-BYE)
Mayer Doa (Mother's blessing)
Ma Babar Doa (Mother's and Father's blessings)
Mayer Doya (Mother's kindness)
Mayer Achol (Mother's sari's corner)

Stand out from the crowd:
Ovi Motors Welcome You Are Welcome
Dhaka-Habiganj Special
Rimjhim Special
Shyamoli Special
HI Deluxe
SU> Deluxe
Avizat Motors (Aristocrat Motors)
Hanif Exclusive Business Class
Exclousive
Rahbar Symbol of Aristocracy

Some names had religious connotations:
Allah Varosha (Depend on Allah)
Allahr Daan (Gift of Allah)
Holy City (reference to Sylhet)

Some used proper nouns:
Masud Shohel
Lovley Eva
Runa
Sakib

Names to denote speed:
Birotihin (non-stop)
Agradut (the one in front)
ARABIAN (like the horse?)

Entering Dhaka I saw the bils:
Ababil (a bird)
Anabil (free)
Salsabil (?)

What was this doing inside Bangladesh?
TRTC, Govt of Tripura

My Absolute Favorite:
Emon Lemon (A Lemon Like This)

If I had my way I would call them:
Get out of my way or else
Brakes? What are those?
Take no prisoner
Roadkills R Us
Disowned by Mother
Don't be a Sissy - being crushed by a bus never hurt anyone
I am BIG you are small NYA NYA

It would be fascinating to ask the bus owners the reason for the name they had bestowed on their bus. But if I ever meet an owner, it would be even more fascinating to grab their collar, shove them against a wall, and ask them why they had hired the most dangerous drivers on the planet to kill people - erm, I mean, to drive their busses.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness. You had me rolling with those names. How I miss Bangladesh. Can't say I miss my trek from Dhaka to Rajshahi.

ulysses said...

Hi Yasmin,

Many thanks for your comments, and I hope the blog makes you a little less homesick.

Anonymous said...

also seen inscribed on a truck:

Mama-Vagina (maternal uncle - nephew)

An unfortunate result of the use of the English letter V for the phonetic sound of "bho" as in 'bhai'.

ulysses said...

Hi Sid,

Ha ha! I have been searching for
this bus so I can take a picture.
Where was it? (I always felt that
this V for Bho business was wrong,
and now here is a concrete reason.)

Anonymous said...

ha ha ha

but, horrible thing is that, I got your blog on technorati and got some thing on your blog...

And sequentially I found my on name and then got her name just above.

Do you understand?

Thanks to share with us

NAq said...

to add to the list:

Peradaish Bus
Khan Beradhars Paribahan

and seen in the vicinity of comilla:

Ch*dagram Travels

possibly the low-cost spin-off of the mama-vagina fleet.

Sama said...

I think you write very well. Discovered your blog for the first time today and find it very engaging. I think your love for your country and its people shines through both in and between the lines of your writing, as well as the subjects of your photographs. Just wanted you to know :)