Back of a truck in the dusty roads of Pakistan is the canvas of rural art ,broken urdu poetry wisdom philosophy & good wishes to make the roadster smile
http://headlines.sify.com/popwin.html
Pak truckers take Kareena Kapoor for a ride
Peshawar, Aug 5
For school drop-out Ilyas Khan, business is literally looking good. In a junk yard in this city near the Afghan frontier, Khan and his brother Hayat turn trucks into works of art-on-wheels.
Khan and his brother are adding the final touches to a Japanese-made 10-wheel Hino truck that has been given the typical Peshawar make-over with red, yellow and green motifs painted on a blue background.
But, the star attraction is on the back of the truck.
A larger than life portrait of actress Kareena Kapoor, greets passersby as the truck careers through the length and breadth of Pakistan.
“She is the most famous film actress in Pakistan today,” says Khan. “So when the owner wanted something attractive, he chose her. They want something very individual. This is a one-of-a-kind bodywork that we do.”
It is not difficult to understand why the trucker wanted to criss-cross the country with Kapoor’s image.
Most Pakistanis are familiar with bootleg versions of Hindi movies and music. Kapoor flick “Khabhi Khushi, Khabhi Gham” has been a blockbuster across the subcontinent.
Spelling mistakes both in Urdu language and in English are glossed over as poetic licence. Kareena Kapoor, who lives across the border in Mumbai, is unlikely to notice.
Trucks do not cross into India given the hostility between the two nations who have a million troops massed along their border since December.
It is the vanity of the drivers that keeps the Khan brothers in business. No driver would want to be seen dead in a truck with a factory finish look.
The brothers custom-build at least six truck bodies a week and for someone who dropped out of school at the age of 13, Khan has come a long way: He employs 25 workers.
Khan said the best art work on wheels comes from this city located 35 kilometres from the Afghan border, which has been a gateway for invaders, traders and missionaries for more than 2,000 years.
“The colours are chosen by the owner, we give a design to suit the customer,” says painter Lal Mohammad as he adds the finishing touches to a string of metal chains dangling from the floor boards.
A complete art job on a 10-wheel truck costs Rs 15,000 rupees. But coach building could cost another Rs 170,000.
The package includes adding an extra platform beyond the front bumper to serve like a cow-catcher seen in the steam locomotives.
Even motorcycles modified as three-wheel taxis get the paint make over to suit the owner’s taste, or as some would say, the lack of it.
The art work can be further refined by adding luminous paint, covering wheel rims with gaudily jutting out plastic light reflectors.
All this taste for body-work and in some cases body sculpture, hardly makes for a relaxed driving experience in Peshawar, though. Riding any sort of vehicle in this city of 1.8 million is not for the faint hearted.
Horse-drawn carts and the smaller, but nippier, donkey carts compete for right of way with motorcycles, three-wheel taxis, cars – both new and ancient, as well as buses.
The Phoenix Armoured Car service which helps banks and others to transport cash and valuables in a city noted for is violent gun culture, has its own public relations drive on wheels.
The fleet of cash transporting vans do not sport fancy paint work. They carry a telephone number a simple black and white message: “How am I driving. Complaints, please call.”
Wohi Hota Hai Jo Munzoore Khuda Hota Hai … :nahnah:
