Thursday, July 3, 2014

Chennai to Pondy (Part 4)

The drive reminded me somewhat of my childhood in the US South of the 1960's, where the heat and humidity were visible in the air, and trees spread their arms across the road, and people moved slowly.

Driving through those dusty backroads you would be met with billboards painted on barnwalls for Purina animal feeds or local wholesale tobacco markets.

The rural area between Chennai and Pondy is also papered edge to edge with advertisements. And for products I'd never think to advertise. Huge ads for plywood fight for space with electrical cable ads and concrete and cement ads. These were also in Hyderabad and Chennai, so I guess they came with the IT boom.

Every small shop in the villages we pass has a poster on its exterior wall for Airtel and / or Vodaphone mobile phone companies. Airtel and Vodaphone plaster farm buildings and other structures with sign after sign after sign. It seems that even people who have no wired electricity or running water, have a cell phone.

The political signs also carry out into the countryside. While the signs in Hyderabad are predominantly pink, in this state the ruling party prefers yellow-tan. The signs are tall, vertical, showing the politician standing and garlanded, and smiling right at you. Sometimes it's just a big head with that serious yet smiling person - hoping to exude competence, fairness, and concern for YOU and YOUR LIFE. These ads are actually quite creepy to an outsider, and give me a sense of Big Brother. The pink and the yellow and the garlands (which are often draped around gods in temples) make me wonder if the underlying intent is to deify the politicians.

Hmmmm.

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