In Delhi’s Khirki extension, poetry comes on a sticker, with golgappas

The stickers at a golgappa stand in Khirki Extension

“Waqt ki giraft se jayein bhi toh kahaan, joh nijad de sake woh bandhan hi nahin hai” (Where do we go from the bounds of time? Even a bond that could have given us relief is not there). This was among seven lines explaining wajoodiat (existentialism), stuck on the cart of a golgappa seller in south Delhi. Looking at the yellow paper, with lines written in various colours against a black backdrop, Brij, a rickshaw puller at Khirki Extension, said, “Sahi bola”. A third-year college student nearby said, “These words came to life not in the theatrics of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but as the rickshaw puller read it. I helped him understand the meaning.”

Two disparate worlds were brought together through a sticker, exactly how its creator would have wanted. Called Sticklit.in and started by a writer and an artist, a movement to spread writing and poetry through these stickers is taking roots in the city. Co-founder Nidhin Kundathil, 31, an artist, calls it an “old-style print medium anarchy”. The founders say that the movement will soon spread its wings to other parts of the country. In fact, it has already earned appreciation from the likes of Margaret Atwood on Twitter. “Through these stickers, we are trying to question the fundamentals on which publishing houses are functioning, and how the industry has become money-driven,” said Manoj Pandey, 33, a co-founder.

“We are thrilled by ideas such as those propagated by Aristotle being read by a rickshaw puller. We feel that this dialogue between two disparate minds deserves a chance. We feel that even a rickshaw puller deserves more than just a marginal existence… He too deserves the luxury of thought and reflection,” said Pandey, who is known for his curated book, Tales of Tweet. Anyone can send the lines, which are then pasted on stickers along with paintings/graphics. Most are stuck at unconventional spaces such as on the lock of a house, water tanks, etc.

This movement started when a friend of one of the founders was rejected by a publishing house. “It was a London-based publisher. He was denied representation in their publishing list with a reason as ridiculous as this: You don’t have a following on social media. We wanted a Jacobin answer to the elites…. During this, the idea of stickers was born,” said Pandey.