Kolkata Buses’ Pilot Signs

This collection of images comes from the streets of Kolkata. The city buses there are extremely distinct; they have their own style with features unique to Kolkata (at least compared to the other cities I’ve seen).

“Pilot”, or occasionally just “Driver”, is always painted on the driver’s door. The novelty of this insignia is enhanced greatly by the sheer diversity of styles and forms that are used to express it. All are hand-painted of course and the painters take great artistic interpretations of how Pilot can look.

About the photo quality: the buses in Kolkata rarely stop and are tricky to casually shoot. Passengers hop on and off while the bus just slows down a bit. Regardless, hopefully thede are good enough to see a subset of the variety of lettering found on Kolkata buses.