Calcutta buses

Calcutta is a wonderful city. I'm not sure whether dusters with dust-covered dust- covers, for example, are sold at intersections in every Indian city, but it is definitely done here.
So- all sorts of things can be found to be special about it, but one thing somewhat less noticed is the Calcuttan bus.
Public transport in Calcutta is not the most efficient or ecologically sound of systems- in fact, trams are our only saving grace in the latter quarter. but something that can be said about it is that it is certainly unique. Buses illustrate this point perfectly.
One would begin by saying that these busdrivers must needs be the most patriotic of people. Every bus that you lay eyes on has, somewhere upon its battered frame, an 'India Is Great', or a 'Mera Bharat Mahaan', or something to that effect on it.
Most everything is aware that it must look good from all sides. Consequently, the backs of buses are usually well-decorated. Sometimes one will find Advertisements- 'Meri Chai' is a common one, or used to be- or public interest messages, such as ' Register All Births And Deaths', by the Births and Deaths Registration Dept., or 'Vehicles that run on gas are dangerous' (which blissfully omits the fact that, where the environment is concerned, vehicles that don't are even more so.) Therefore, buses are definitely vehicles of public awareness.
Also, all buses are quite educational- many of the drivers here seem to learn all they know about driving rules from what they read while stuck behind a bus in one of the city's countless traffic jams. As for the fact that it's usually 'Horn Deen' or 'Awaz Karo', well, one can say that they follow the advice pretty strictly, too. And of course, who is not going to follow the dictum 'Keep Safe Distance' when it's on a huge, snorting, polluting machine three times the size of your own ? So, buses can be considered to always get the message across quite clearly.
But the messages are not the only things you will find on the backs of buses, oh dear me, no. You will very often find large numbers of grimy, plastic-lined baskets tied onto the rear grill, along with other vague objects. Also, buses reflect local superstition- Aankh mat Lagao- as you will find a large quantity of shoes, lost, dirty, streetside, or otherwise, tied on at the back. Sometimes, for variety, there are Masks with demon faces painted on, complete with red eyes, moustache, fangs dripping with blood, et al. The irony, as it turns out, is that these seem quite to draw the passer-by's eye rather than repel it..... Other forms of expressed belief are the limes and chillis dangling in front of the buses, the pictures of gods and goddesses beside the steering wheel and so on. None of which you will find elsewhere.
Next, each bus necessarily has a name or inscription on the side. Now, this is somewhat obvious, everything in the world has a name, so why not public transport ? One would certainly think so, but you will also have noticed that nowhere else- not even in other cities in India- would one find such a lot of buses with names painted flamboyantly on their sides, or, in fact, even such an array of names ! The normal ones, like Monideepa and Reeya and Beeyu, we suppose are named after the family. But world- famous objects have their due place- Mona Lisa, and sometimes, Monalisa, being quite a popular name. Religions are given pride of place- 'Jai Sri Babosa' or 'Jai Ma Tara' are often found, painted in the yellow stripe that runs along the bus, so as to be extra prominent. But, now and again, one sees truly unique and profound messages on these, such as Love Is Sweet Poison, or All Religions Are One. These certainly seem to make all the Beeyus and Papithas worth the while.