Ever posted a classified ad in a newspaper?
No? Then you’ve been missing out on a unique experience. You get a form with a box for each letter, but each letter costs money. Grandiose descriptions like “Excellent Quality” and “Superb Condition” will cost you a hefty rupee; trying to write with proper grammar and spelling means being reckless with your cash. You’ve got to embrace the spirit of economy. As long as your ad screams out its message and all the abbreviated essentials are crammed in, the Sunday classified is your linguistic playground, and the only ‘conditions apply’ are the ones laid down by you and your wallet. Then finally, buried deep below the Sunday headlines, the sex, the sports, the human affairs, the politics, the mergers and accqusitions, the setbacks and comebacks, your horoscope–there they are: your very own few lines of black Times Roman newsprint! A single India is presented here from two vantage points in time. The small bites of “classified” text sell the excellent-quality-superb-condition-dynamic-India we live in, while the illustrations are “declassified” Hindi film visuals from the India we grew up in. Of course, everything is open to interpretation…
Vishwajyoti Ghosh pursues interests in comics, illustrations, art and films. His comics are regularly published in various magazines, literary journals and anthologies. His recently published work includes contributions in two international comic anthologies, When Kulbhushan met Stockli- an indo swiss comic collection and Cntrl Alt Shift unmasks Corruption-a comics anthology on stories of corruption from round the world. In 2009 his illustrated set of picture postcards based on contemporary classified ads, Times New Roman and Countrymen was published. His first graphic novel ‘Delhi Calm’ has recently been published and will soon be released.
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