The interminable queues on the fuel station chuckle and smirk as the irksome break instantaneously becomes joyous. The heads turned towards a blackboard that stands on the N M Service station, next to the GPO, is quite an amusing site. The board is inscribed with a set of jokes and axioms that haul the vehicles to fill fuel and smiles alike. Ketan Gala, proprietor of the pump has been on the board with his unique idea since last 10 years.

“People are always restless and tense when they wait at a fuel station. It is a compulsory obstruction as well as time consuming to be waiting in a queue. So I thought of entertaining them in this way. The content on the board cheers them up and enlivens their mood,” he adds.

Gala likes reading one-liners and considers this to be a fine way to share them. “The collection is picked up from various books. The book, Immortal, by R D Sharma has been my most cherished source for proverbs. Now people themselves recount and SMS me the jokes. I used to earlier write only in English however most of the auto rickshaw drivers couldn’t pick up, now we write in Marathi as well. People come from all over the city to read the blackboard. We most of the times write jokes, touchy one-liners or witty phrases. The most popular is - I had a friend and money, I lent my money to my friend, I lost my money and my friend which I write almost every month,” shares Gala.

The writings have gone a long way due to the novel concept and funny content. Sharing the popularity Gala says, “People stop on purpose to read the blackboard. The auto rickshaw drivers find it very interesting. It is also a major appeal to the school students who commute through the auto rickshaws. It has definitely helped me attract regulars and about 60 per cent of them are my loyal customers. We change the content every alternate day. The recognition is very high and at times people ask me to uphold the content until they have gotten their kith or kin to go through it. There is a lot of attention and the exercise is often admired.”

Besides, Gala also asserts of owning an antique, art and interior store on the petrol pump. “This is one of its kinds considering its unusual location. I have also installed a small board at the entrance of the pump recently such that it is noticeable by the traffic that assimilates on the road adjacent to this pump. Infact we make the crowd halt,” smiles Gala.