Suzy Bell delves into the delicious world of Durban bus and taxi art
A goddess, adorned with flowers, pink silk sari and a jewel-encrusted gold crown, flashes past in rush hour traffic. It is Durban and its bustling Beatrice Street. An African gentleman carrying a maroon briefcase and wearing amabeshu (traditional Zulu animal hide worn by men), can’t help but linger longer as the goddess stops, waiting for the robot to change.
It’s the beautiful Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. She is airbrushed to perfection on the back of an Indian- owned bus called Music Queen. (So the Durban municipality thought the mynah was an exotic enough name for a bus? Hardly.)
Catching Indian-owned buses in Durban is by far the most fab way of commuting. Where else can you can enjoy Hindi pop, the sweet scent of sandalwood incense, the squeaky feel of red vinyl seats and the sight of a fake tiger-skinned furry dashboard? Indian- owned buses are decorated with immense pride. Red, blue and pink garlands dangle from the bus driver’s rear view mirror.
A sculpture of Ganesha, the portly elephant Hindu god of knowledge, sits lotus-legged below the red sign of Om, the sacred invocation. There’s a sticker near the driver’s speedometer – it’s a picture of Saraswati, goddess of speech and literature. She is seated on a white swan, looking ever so serene, playing a veena (Indian stringed drone instrument). On the glass window behind the driver’s seat is a romantic painted message: “Travel with Love!”.
But it was the artistic work of signwriter, Sathi Roopchand of Roopchand’s Signs, that first caught my eye. Working from a piece of vacant land in Phoenix Industrial Park, Roopchand and his assistant Terrance Pillay are creating beautiful artworks on the backs of Indian-owned buses. Roopchand was taught by his father, the late Dwarika Roopchand, who was a bus driver in the 1950s and 1960s. “My dad was very well known. He was also very religious and artistic. He let me draw on buses from the age of 12. I studied art at school but I haven’t studied further, so I’m no professor of art,” laughs Roopchand. Regardless, Roopchand is a talented artist and his creativity is much in demand. It takes him about six days to complete the beautiful Lakshmi and during this time he fasts and when painting Saraswati he offers her a prayer..
Although Roopchand Signs is one of the most reputable and established signwriting companies in KwaZulu-Natal, there are about 15 other local signwriting companies in the same specialist bus-art industry. But most of the other companies are creating canvases of kitsch wildlife scenes, like a lone fish eagle against a raspberry-rippled ice-cream sky. “Usually the bus owners who are not religious prefer if you paint lions and elephants, but I prefer to paint deities,” explains Roopchand, who shares the family business with his brother Kishore.
With over 24 years’ experience of air- brushing Hindu deities, and using a hand- brush for intricate details like the hair and jewellery, and everything from the eyes of Sai Baba to the different shades of milky-white of the majestic Taj Mahal, it’s a sad fact that technology is set to replace this original art form.
“I don’t see my future secured because this art is a dying trade. Computer images are taking off as you can see now that taxis are starting to use Coke and Pepsi adverts laser-printed on vinyl. I reckon in 10 years’ time we won’t be so much in demand, unless we can all afford to invest in expensive technology and work only with vinyl.”
One thing that won’t change is the painted word. For each Indian-owned bus needs a name that reflects the flamboyance and charm of the bus driver, or the owner. I’ve seen Glamour Boy and Hot illusion.
“This bus is called Music Queen, explains Roopchand, “because she has the best sound system to offer her passengers. Or so they say. But sometimes the sound system costs half the price of a bus!”
Decorate your bus? Contact Roopchand’s Signs on (031) 2629214 or 0828070479