[sacrust]

A collage of road signs on my trip to Leh in 2011 and none of them had at that time any stickers on it !!!

[joybird]

Originally Posted by sacrust

A collage of road signs on my trip to Leh in 2011 and none of them had at that time any stickers on it !!!

Thank you for sharing. Great pictures. Question: Did bikers not do Leh circuit then? I guess less in number but still many bikers did it but what I think they weren't so influenced by the so called western style of being part of a gang or brotherhood and of course we were not so advanced in information technology. I know riders who did Leh Srinagar in 1980s. They boast of their achievements by putting great memories on the walls of their living rooms. Turn up at their door step and you will see the good old days come true.

[Vigkey]

Vandalism is in our blood. Ain't it? Isn't that why we have many esteemed TBHP-ians defending this?

I have a simple question - , if I am hurting sentiments.

But, Please imagine this. Ive been planing to visit a friend's house (could be one of you) for a long time, put in a lot of effort and prepare a lot for that and finally manage to convince my family and travel some 1000 kms to visit. On the joy of visiting the house, I scribble on the house's name board "VigKey was here". Do note, I have taken special attention so as to not disturb the house name on the board - how would you appreciate it?

How is it different from all bikers putting up their stickers on the sign board? Except for the fact that one was on a PRIVATE (probably one of your) property and other was on a public property. Its probably OK, if it is a public property? Isn't this attitude of ours that results in scribbling and sticking stickers on everything from a historical monument to a train or a bus?

It is not about it being inconvenience or not. It is not about one's achievement. It is all about discipline and manners. It is all about respecting public property and taking care not to damage them.

If we want to let the world know of our achievement, let us show it on our property - on our car, our bike, our jacket, our helmet. No one will stop us from this. The problem is when we choose to do it in other's properties - and if it is a public property, it is definitely not something we should appreciate.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by sacrust

A collage of road signs on my trip to Leh in 2011 and none of them had at that time any stickers on it !!!

None of these boards with catchy quotes gets pasted with stickers. On the concrete boards there is an additional issue that many of the stickers won't stick properly and if it sticks, it won't stay for long.

It's the more famous boards like Khardungla and others that get stickers, for selfies, for show off, for getting bragging rights.

I've seen many of these stickers when i went there in 2012.

[Roy.S]

Originally Posted by Vigkey

Vandalism is in our blood. Ain't it? Isn't that why we have many esteemed TBHP-ians defending this?
.
.
.

Actually it's a small minority but yes, vandalism is in our blood. It's a bit disappointing that people who have the discipline and training to ride all the way to the Himalayas and back don't see a problem with this.
It's good to see that they are being named and shamed and hopefully this obnoxious practice will end.

[sacrust]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

None of these boards with catchy quotes gets pasted with stickers. On the concrete boards there is an additional issue that many of the stickers won't stick properly and if it sticks, it won't stay for long.

It's the more famous boards like Khardungla and others that get stickers, for selfies, for show off, for getting bragging rights.

I've seen many of these stickers when i went there in 2012.

Attaching another set with famous points and again none of these have any stickers. Again these are of 2011.Probably its with the new breed of so called biker gangs/groups that this trend has come up of leaving their mark (dirt) behind and in process spoiling the beauty.

[iamahunter]

Originally Posted by nda992

By jove, I can't believe that a fellow TBHPian is in favour of these stickers.

If riding a bike to Leh/Ladakh is considered an achievement, then every Indian Army soldier's name should be inscribed all over this country.

For a regular joe, it is.
Would request you to kindly go through my entire post. I have already mentioned that I do not support putting stickers on the road signs.
Then, I would suggest you to not involve a great institution in this discussion, The Indian Army. Absolutely not required.

Originally Posted by nda992

Sorry if I've hurt anyone but seeing these villainous stickers on the BRO boards made my blood boil. Do these guys have any idea about how the BRO is painfully maintaining the roads?

Agree with you on this point, it is absolutely difficult to maintain the roads in that terrain.

But as we are speaking of roads, the roads made and maintained by BRO over there, are still so much better than what our govt has made and maintained over here.

[StreetAddict]

This should be justified too. Someone dared the traffic & hung upside down (probably) to paste these

/s

[joybird]

Originally Posted by Vigkey

Vandalism is in our blood. Ain't it? Isn't that why we have many esteemed TBHP-ians defending this?

I have a simple question - , if I am hurting sentiments.

But, Please imagine this. Ive been planing to visit a friend's house (could be one of you) for a long time, put in a lot of effort and prepare a lot for that and finally manage to convince my family and travel some 1000 kms to visit. On the joy of visiting the house, I scribble on the house's name board "VigKey was here". Do note, I have taken special attention so as to not disturb the house name on the board - how would you appreciate it?

How is it different from all bikers putting up their stickers on the sign board? Except for the fact that one was on a PRIVATE (probably one of your) property and other was on a public property. Its probably OK, if it is a public property? Isn't this attitude of ours that results in scribbling and sticking stickers on everything from a historical monument to a train or a bus?

It is not about it being inconvenience or not. It is not about one's achievement. It is all about discipline and manners. It is all about respecting public property and taking care not to damage them.

If we want to let the world know of our achievement, let us show it on our property - on our car, our bike, our jacket, our helmet. No one will stop us from this. The problem is when we choose to do it in other's properties - and if it is a public property, it is definitely not something we should appreciate.

Well said. Vandalism is indeed in the blood. Not drifting off topic but the news did mention couple of months ago how the passengers traveling first time in new Goa train scratched touch screens and damaged coaches.
Same happened with first Delhi Metro in 2002.
Discipline matters. The concept how to behave not only when in company of somebody but when alone.
This platform is for this purposes, driving right and acting right. How to behave when on public roads is also part of it.

[KiranPatil]

Originally Posted by joybird

Dear all

Wanted to post this for sometime, but couldn't find the time from my busy schedule. Himalayas are something we are proud of. Not only they are protecting our borders but also providing relief to us during the summer months. With better roads, communication and easy to get hotels, we all look forward to the Himalayas.
Photo courtesy: The Himalayan Club

Nowadays everyone wants to ride to Ladakh and put their "I was here" message just to satisfy their itch of conquering "something" deep under. This something gives them satisfaction when someone else praises them with "Woooow.. You did Ladakh on bike? Awuusum. Cool man. Your are the man".

But what we fail to understand is that it is illegal to stick posters on road signs. It not only distracts the view of road sign it also damages the beauty of the place.

"Preserve what you have today so that next generation could also enjoy it."

[pduttaghy]

I completely agree with the views of most BHPians here. When we drive/ ride somewhere we do it for ourselves, for our own pleasure, the best way to preserve those moments of pleasure is through memories which will remain for life. Few photographs, videos etc maybe. But all of that should be for ourselves.
Not for anyone else. not even friends, you are not driving/ riding for someone else.

What is the point of pasting stickers in a place far away which you may have visited. How does it add to your self satisfaction. Is it in anyway going to contribute to your success.
Individually it will add very little value to a person pasting a sticker at a signboard, but collectively all stickers do make a mess of the signboards.

[KiranPatil]

Attaching photo that I clicked on 18 Aug 17 at Khardung La. The sign boards are in very sad state. Also The hotel where I stayed in Leh was not spared from these stickers. Saw at least 20 diff. stickers in hotel lobby and cafeteria area.

[ashroy_6]

Originally Posted by KiranPatil

Attaching photo that I clicked on 18 Aug 17 at Khardung La. The sign boards are in very sad state. Also The hotel where I stayed in Leh was not spared from these stickers. Saw at least 20 diff. stickers in hotel lobby and cafeteria area.

Attachment 1670535

Absolutely disgusting. These groups should be traced and fined heavily. They have absolutely no right to stick any kinds of stickers on pubic property specially something as important as sign boards.

Till last year when i went to leh with family nothing was there. This must be done in 2017.

And if people are doing it for sense of achievement, they should carry cameras and click them self in front of signboards or better buy those small leh flags and put it on their bikes or car. Going to leh and having the feeling of leaving something behind in 2017 is weird, its like the first man on moon kind of mentality.

[pcpranav]

all this is absolutely wrong & illegal. But look at large, its not just automobile guys on trips doing it, you can see many such examples:

- affixing your personal (or institute's) sticker on a public or Govt property (buildings, signboards, vehicles, etc)
- inscribing your's (& maybe beloved's too) name on the walls of historical places (palaces, museums etc), including UNESCO WH sites.
- students writing names / slogans / jokes on benches, walls etc,
- and also those forcible, unregulated, self-promoting stickers & banners by many politicians & religious units, this is also a big big irritant.
- just few days back many political parties affixed their stickers in our building, and spoiled the looks!

if you stretch this further, I could say, those surrogate & misleading advertisements in newspapers, TV and other media.

The sad part is, in most cases we already know who has done it, but no action is taken against them.
Some time back there was popular news that illegal banners by politicians will be dealt strictly, but I dont see any improvements.

I dont understand: Why spoil the space ?


Slight Off-Track: Two years back I did family trip to Spiti-HP, and the signboard at Komic village speaking of "highest village connected with motorable road" was all washed out (ofcourse, natural causes), nevertheless the word Komic was readable and we did click the usual picture of whatever was available. In a recent video by a traveler, I noticed that same board is freshly painted with all details. I know it would take huge efforts by those personnel to maintain such infrastructure, salute them.

regards,
Pranav

[Pro-magnon Man]

Originally Posted by KiranPatil

Attaching photo that I clicked on 18 Aug 17 at Khardung La. The sign boards are in very sad state. Also The hotel where I stayed in Leh was not spared from these stickers. Saw at least 20 diff. stickers in hotel lobby and cafeteria area.

Attachment 1670535

I read a lot of posts on TeamBHP but rarely comment, but this one kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

Here is the irony of it all - that Khardungla Pass signboard actually says:

"Khardungla is sacred place with temple and protector deities. We request all to cooperate in maintaining Khardungla Neat and Clean.

"Cleanliness is a big contribution to Humankind.

"Please leave behind the memories of your love, not the marks of your trash."

It's almost like we take it as a challenge - "How dare someone tell us we can't do this???"

For all those who are saying that the sign is irrelevant, let me share a little story with you.

My house has a name-plate in front, with some plants growing in front of it. During monsoons, they grow larger and, unless cut, can obstruct the view.

This courier-delivery guy was looking for an address near my house one late evening, and because not all houses have their lights on or have numbers/names outside, he had to look carefully while riding his bike.

While riding past my house, trying to read my number plate, he ended up swerving and knocking the rear-view mirror of a car parked on the side. Luckily, he wasn't riding at a high speed and the car was stationary. For someone driving/riding on the highway, it may not be so.

You think that road sign is irrelevant? How about my house's number plate?

A second or more when looking at any sign-board (and not looking at the road), trying to understand what it says amidst all the stickers, can be dangerous.

It may not be an important signboard but for someone who does not know what it says, they might think it might be important. They might not know whether its a location-marker or whatever, and might try and read it, and get into an accident.

You can only know the relevance/irrelevance of the sign once you have read it - and not everyone who is heading to Leh has gone there before.

If any feel that such people should stop and read it - well road signs are meant to be read on the go - hence the short and crisp nature of the message and the size of the font.

If you really want to leave your mark behind, try and do it for the right reasons - Why not do something that makes the locals ask you for your stickers so that they can stick it on their homes, business establishments or sign-boards - all because you have done something noble and meaningful?

But that might require a real achievement of some kind now, wouldn't it?