Painted Trucks of Pakistan

I listen to the upbeat Punjabi bhangra as trucks in many colors whirlpass me I was standing along a tea stall on the Grand Trunk Road near Jehlum. While standing there, conjecturing on my assignment, I just muse on the art of painting especially the art of painting trucks in Pakistan which is unique to our country. Neither do the Indians, nor our neighbors in Afghanistan indulge in this special art. I traveled some 5000 km in three months from Karachi to Khunjrab Pass traversing through deserts, plains, passes and awesome mountain landscapes along Karakoram Highway. I met many interesting people, roadside artists (Street Picassos I call them) and many unforgettable experiences during all that wonderful period of exploration of vehicle decoration art.

Sipping morning tea from a tiny china clay cup in a roadside truck drivers’ tavern on the banks of river Indus, I looked at the long stretch of Karakoram Highway winding into the distance. It was only a night before when I reached Bisham from Lahore. I have been on the road for many days without rest pursuing truck caravans bound for Sost [last Pakistani village on Pak-China border]. Morning sun shone brightly over the mud roof of driver’s hotel a few kilometers ahead of Bisham. We sat on huge charpoys, sipped more tea as Sada Khan talked about his magnificent red Bedford parked outside. “This truck is my bride. That’s why most of them are painted in red. I spent most part of my life with it than at my home with parents and family. Like a newly wed bride it should look beautiful, enticing and alluring.” He narrated this with the magic touch of an ancient story teller. Soon, the tantalizing channa dal and parathas arrive and breakfast began in a formal manner. Sada Khan laid his back on the many colored blankets piled on the charpoys and continued his tale, “I fell in love with truck decorations in Peshawar, where I was a helper boy at truck stations decades ago. I know that an aesthetically decorated truck can make you jealous, envious at best and you cherish the dream to outclass others by more eloquent designs and patterns.”

Complete article published as cover story in Tourism Scenario International, January 2008 [Text and photos by Umair Ghani].