India’s big trucks – “goods carriers” – are always colorfully painted and usually say something like “HORN OK”. But occasionally I see a social message, like “One is best” or “We two ours one”.
India has long struggled with poverty and a rapidly growing population. Decades ago, the government launched aggressive campaigns for family planning and even sterilization. (Nandan Nilekani’s book has a searing indictment of those programs, which often led to abuse when some health workers sought to meet their monthly sterilization quota.)
I still see the occasional sign or message referring back to this campaign, like the truck below that refers to “We two ours one.” I asked the taxi driver what it meant, and he explained to me that it referred to a married couple (two) who were to be encouraged to have just one child.
This post was transferred from MobileMe to WordPress in 2020, with an effort to retain the content as close to the original as possible; I recognize that some comments may now seem dated or some links may now be broken.
David Kotz 