Jovan Bulj was dancing on the streets of Belgrade

When one wants to become popular, he chooses to be an actor, singer, politician. There is a belief in my culture that each of us has their own star that is accompanying us for all life. Something like "it is written in the stars". As much as this sounds deterministic, here is one unusual example to prove it. Once upon a time, the late 70s, in a land that now doesn't exist, Yugoslavia, there was a man called Jovan Bulj. He never dreamed of becoming a pop star! He just wanted to work with what made him happy. This made him shine like a star. Being a traffic police officer, doesn’t give a lot of space for gaining popularity. To become a pop star out of this profession, it had to be written in the stars, don't you think?

Jovan was popular as "the ballet dancer" from Belgrade and mostly he was regulating the streets of Slavija, Republic square, Zeleni Venac... Once he got invited to be a guest pointsman in London, that’s how good he was. He, with his graceful moves, made a performance out of something we would call ‘’simply showing directions’’. People from London compared him with Elvis Presley, an entertaining energy that not everyone has.

People were talking that he had certain education as a ballet dancer at the National Theater in Belgrade, and that he therefore had such graceful moves, but he stated that he was only actively involved in sports: football and handball. He was a regular guest on the reception in the City Hall, even invited by Josip Broz Tito.

After the falling of Yugoslavia, he got retired and completely forgotten by the state. The people, still, remember how this white dressed star was showing dedication to a simple profession, making an art performance out of it.

Since last year, in Belgrade, the uniform for traffic police officers is again white. They say "white police for a white city" (Beograd means White -beo, City- grad). This move from local authorities to put back the old uniforms is accepted with greetings from the public and many of them are already taking selfies with the pointsman around. Black mirror much?

Republic Square, Belgrade

Blok Braća Marić, Beograd, Serbia

Hotel Slavija

Svetog Save 1, Beograd, Serbia

Zeleni Venac, Belgrade

Zeleni Venac, Belgrade, Serbia