Zebra passenger Cart during 1930 in Calcutta

When the English drove their cars on Indian streets in the 1930s, bus & tram conductors in Kolkata would shout “pleasure car” and everything moving on the road would stand still. In those times, there were a few zebra pulled passenger carts. Zebras were known for disobeying orders unlike horses. The first one to revolt against the English command was probably a zebra. Whenever this happened, the Englishmen, out of fear had to stop and give way to the zebra cart on road. Later, zebra carts were banned. But their stripes were put on the road and called “zebra crossing” to halt traffic and give way for pedestrians to walk. A powerful etymology for the phrase inscribed on roads in black & white.

(Collection by Pappula Surendranath, High Court Advocate, Hyderabad)