Lorry Art and Us

In South Asia we AL are prone to put the bullock behind the cart, whereas in other subcontinents they tend to have the horse before the trolley. The proclivity to go for form rather than content saps our energy in a billion different ways day-in and day-out, which, among other things, is why we continue to walk when we could rather ride..Take a look at the much-adorned prototypical Pakistani truck (top picture) and you will get my drift. Every principle in the book The Inscrutable Law of Aerodynamics would tell you that the last thing you want to do with a vehicle of sizeable cross-sectional mass that needs to travel at speed is, to not make it easy for the said vehicle to cut through the air..Instead, what do we have in the Land of the Pure? The exact opposite in design – trucks (doubtless nicely trussed up) whose proboscis jut out towards the front, constructed just perfectly to deliver massive air resistance the faster the truck moves. You would expect better from a nation that can now build short-range and long-range missiles which actually leave the launchpad..For decades, we have marvelled at the bejewelled wonder that is the Pakistani lorry, but never have we thought of the extra diesel and gasoline burnt because of this triumph of art over science. Some may argue (as contrarian South Asians always do, pouncing on an opening for an argument just because it presents itself) that "art ko bhi to jagah chahiye" – that painted trucks too have a role to play in society. But at what cost?.My answer to the contrarians is, let the Pakistani artists continue with their psychedelic art, but have the truck chassis configured differently. Like so (see bottom picture). With the truck's front swept back rather than lunging forward, the same painters can continue with their art and yet not spit on science..Now that the intractable problem of lorry art vs lorry science, which has confounded sages and scientists alike down the millennia, has been finally solved, we must move on to other areas where form has taken over function, and do something about it..Some say that South Asians are innately intelligent (having discovered the 'zero', remember?), and automatically shift to whatever is more economic, more efficient, more sensible. Well, it just does not happen that way, and the Pakistani Truck proves it. What the psychedelic lorries show, instead, is our need to show off, grandstand, exaggerate, at the cost of our own income, health and peace of mind. Rather like the South Asian peacock who might be pretty to look at as he struts his fan during courtship season, but is completely burdened by that tail the rest of the year. Just watch a peacock trying to fly, lugging that cumbersome tail behind him. Inefficient flying, just as the truck represents inefficient cargo movement..Perhaps this propensity for overstatement, embellishment and embroidery is all a gender thing. The peacock is a male. The peahen can do nothing but roll her eyes and wish mating season were over. And so are the truck drivers, owners, chassis-makers and painters of Pakistan, all male. The gaudiness of the vehicles must be in inverse proportion to the sense of self-fulfilment of the driver or bird, is my guess..You only need to take the theory one step further to understand how all the geopolitical cracks in our region have perhaps to do with deep insecurities of macho malehood. No names shall be listed, obviously, to protect life and limb, but exceptional ladies who display similar tendencies in countries that shall remain unnamed only prove the point..Thus do the gaudy ostentation of Pakistani truck art and of the male peacock help explain the here and now….Astu.