It’s Classified

But that is not the end of the story. Ghosh was hooked,and how. “I started following the classified sections. Yes conventionally it’s a need-based-read but it’s a great way to know of the changing times,our society and the markets. Most of what is put up will never make it to mainstream advertising either because of the budget or the service itself,e.g escort services. Or so I hope,” smiles Ghosh.

That’s when his visual book,Times New Roman and Countrymen (Blaft Publications,Rs 295),was born. “I collected these ads for over a year and then selected 25 of them. These would be the coolest ones from my selection but let me tell you that my collection gets outdated everyday. You would be surprised the kind of ads that come out,including ones that cannot be published. In that sense classified ads are truly democratic and censor free,” he says.

In the book Ghosh chose to highlight those ads that “one wouldn’t usually notice”. Most of us refer to these columns either for a car sale or a matrimonial but there’s much more at your service. I didn’t know such services are even available forget getting advertised. These weren’t there in the India we grew up in. So I chose to illustrate them with the visual influences of my growing up,cinema posters,Raja Ravi Verma,picture charts,calendars etc. That creates a schism,a kitsch and humour,” says Ghosh.

Indeed,the postcards in Times New Roman and Countrymen are replete with visual puns. But they are never complex and esoteric. Ghosh very cleverly uses images ingrained in our collective psyche (Bollywood posters,Raja Ravi Verma paintings) to illustrate these bizarre ads. Moreover,Ghosh ensures that this collection of images doesn’t end up being an intimidating coffee-table book. “The rationale to make a postcard book was to make it usable and interactive. This kind of a collection is not for a coffee table format,neither is it an art brochure. It’s a concept book. It should be used and be interactive like the ads themselves. See this collection can be used as postcards,as a book itself and a gift item too. This book will hopefully create spaces for more books of this kind,” says Ghosh whose graphic novel is due to release in 2010.