The Cockroach Has Reached the Auto Stand: CJP Stickers Are Everywhere on India's Streets

Behind the driver's seat, next to the Ganesh idol and the 'Horn OK Please', there is now increasingly a small neon cockroach. Auto-rickshaws in Nagpur, Indore, Lucknow and Chennai are carrying CJP stickers — as are tea stalls, paan shops, cycle repair kiosks and at least one municipal bus. Mid-Day photographed 40 of them across five cities and asked the owners why. Almost none had generated a member card. Most could not name the Chief Justice. All of them knew exactly what the cockroach meant, which is arguably the more remarkable finding.