Natalie Wood

How to use the wooden signs in India

As the dust settles, the wooden sign in the middle of the road in this Delhi neighbourhood is almost completely gone.

A few years ago, it would have been a big hit.

Today, the sign is a bit rusty.

A little more than a year ago, a young man who works as a taxi driver came here from Gujarat to make a living.

He is now a self-employed taxi driver.

“It was a dream of mine.

It was only because of my wife and three children,” said Rakesh, who, like many in the community, is from the rural Guntur district.

The sign, which was installed in the early 1980s, is now derelict and the man who bought it is nowhere to be seen.

“It was the first sign I made in my village.

I could see that people were migrating out of our village.

They came here because of the pollution and the lack of water,” said Nirmal, who came here a decade ago from Gujarat.

The sign was meant to remind people of their traditional practices.

“We used to tell them that they have to keep going in our village for a long time.

We used to say that it is for the children.

It is a reminder to them of the old days.

The people are coming back to us to get water,” he said.

The signs have been in use in Guntura for about 10 years now.

“A few years back, people started leaving their homes and they came to our village,” said Shastri, a resident of Gunturu.

The man who purchased the sign said he had bought it for his wife.

“The sign was taken to a factory here in Delhi.

But now the factory is shutting down,” he told NDTV.

Shastri said his family had to leave Guntural and he now works as an electrician.

“When the factory shuts down, we have to move out.

I have no job.

I am living on food given to me by my neighbours,” he added.

Rakesh and Shastiris mother, Pradeep, said they do not know where they will go.

“This sign is an indication to us that we have been left behind.

Our land is being taken over by the people and the people will take it over,” he alleged.

Raksh said he does not have any relatives back in Girtur.

“My wife has to go and work somewhere else.

I want to go back and see my family.

We are scared of what the future holds.

We want to find out how we will survive,” he explained.