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These trucks tirelessly roll along the highways of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan, displaying very ostentatious characteristics. The entire vehicle is a dazzling color, decorated with drawings of birds, flowers, landmarks, saints, or actors – a vibrant palette on the exterior. The interior is overflowing with plastic flowers, mirrors, ribbons, velvet, and a string of bells hanging around the vehicle. Each time the truck moves, the bells jingle like the ghungroo sash worn by Pakistani brides. "Jingling trucks" is the name given to these vehicles by the US military stationed in Afghanistan.
Not only trucks, buses, watercraft, transport vehicles, trailers, and handcarts are also decorated with vibrant colors. It's like a form of folk art, a kind of free-moving national collection.
The tradition of decorating trucks began around 1920 with the advent of the Bedfords long-haul truck. A British-style truck with a rounded cab and seven-foot-high sides became the country's most reliable vehicle for over half a century. The original trucks were painted and marked with company logos so that even illiterate people could recognize who owned them. Gradually, the logos also became more competitive, becoming more vibrant and eye-catching. In the 1950s, stylized paintings and murals began to replace them. And in the 1960s, as the country's economy boomed, the decorations became increasingly sophisticated to reflect the growing wealth of the truck drivers and the rise of the new urban class.
Each truck is like a small fortune. It's not uncommon for someone to spend a year's salary just decorating their truck. According to one article, a simple painting and labor cost at least $2,000, equivalent to two years' average driver's salary. Some spend up to $10,000 on exterior decorations. And surprisingly, many people redecorate their entire truck every 3 or 4 years.
“Truck drivers don’t even spend much money on their own homes,” said Durriya Kazi, head of the visual research department at Karachi University. “I remember one driver telling me that he put his whole life on the truck; it was his livelihood. If he didn’t treat it well, he would feel ungrateful.”
A well-decorated vehicle also gives customers the feeling that it is well-cared for and therefore, that it is reliable for transporting goods.
Car painting has also become a major industry. In Karachi alone, more than 50,000 people are involved in this lucrative sector. Family workshops include apprentices, craftsmen, and small shops selling all sorts of quirky decorations and interesting accessories.
Over the years, the business has changed. Now, instead of meticulously hand-painting each truck, people use wallpaper. “The truck decorating industry isn’t stagnant, it’s dead,” lamented RM Naeem, an assistant professor at the Lahore National College of Art. “Because the artists see their work as a job to make money. They no longer have time for creativity and innovation.”
Ngoc Anh (According to AmusingPlanet)
