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On wings of diesel
Spiritual space and religious imagination in Pakistani
truck decoration
JAMAL J. ELIAS
audience.
Vehicular art
The decoration of vehicles is, of course, a common
practice in a number of countries in addition to Pakistan
and Afghanistan. Minor decoration of vehicles is
common throughout the world, and ornately decorated
ones are seen in several countries, such as the
p. xxii.
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(1980): 257-275.
There are several other articles and books that deal with truck
decoration in Afghanistan and Pakistan, though these tend to focus
entirely on presenting pictures of the vehicles and provide no analysis
or other relevant information. Examples of these are: J.-C Blanc,
Afghan Trucks (New York: Stonehill Publishing Co., 1976); "Camions
afghans," Zoom 40 (1976):48-53; Lastwagenkunst in Afghanistan:
Bilder die fahren (Frankfurt: Dieter Fricke, 1976); M. Centlivres
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Figure 2. Truck in the Punjabi style. Photograph by the author. (See front cover.)
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Pakistan.
no. 5 (2001):4:399-428).
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purpose.
4. Idealized elements of life. These include
of motifs.
Figure 3. Detail of the side panel of a truck in the Karachi style. Photograph by the author.
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whimsical.
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human being:
ban? sari khud?? men muhammad mustaf? pahl?
na ?dam th? na farisht?th? na z?hir th? khud? pahl?
In all God's creation Muhammad was made first
There was no Adam, there were no angels, God was not
apparent
yours9
At the bottom of the radiator (panel 4), under the
name Bedford, is a non-religious couplet:
jal j?o kh?mush? se kan dh?p m?n l?kin
apno? se kabh? s?ya-e d?v?r na mango
9. The pen and tablet refer to the divine pen with which Cod
wrote the Qur'an on a protected divine tablet (al-lawh al-mahfuz)
where it remains as the eternal word of God.
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bottom says J?yo b?b? (May you live long, old man!) and
"Toman is my home." The panels attached on either side
have the truck's registration number written in English
and Urdu, and the phrase na??b apn? apn?, pasand apn?
apni (To each their own fortune, to each their own
pleasures).
Conclusion: Decoration as message
In the profusion of their numbers and the lavishness
of their adornment, Pakistani trucks transform the
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Figure 7. Detail of the side panel of a truck in the Punjabi style. Photograph by the author. (See
inside back cover.)
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p. 34.
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but the truth of this is clear when one compares the two
trucks in figures 1 and 2. The general layout of the trucks
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Figure 9. Punjabi style truck being painted in Rawalpindi. Photograph by the author.
Centlivres-Demont, Micheline
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