{"id":2509,"date":"2017-09-13T08:27:42","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T08:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/?p=2509"},"modified":"2017-09-13T08:28:53","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T08:28:53","slug":"seeking-paradise-image-reality-truck-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/?p=2509","title":{"rendered":"Seeking paradise: The image and reality of truck art"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dropcap\"><span class=\"dropletter\">R<\/span>aindrops fall from the sky on bare winter trees, their branches spread in the manner of a person wailing with arms spread out. The golden beams of a sun filtering through clouds turn these droplets into prisms that throw up curious combinations of emerald, green and turquoise. Another array of raindrops gleams like small mirrors, suspended to bare boughs running from one end to the other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This is not a scene from a mountain valley coming back to life after heavy snows. It is not even the creation of a writer\u2019s fertile imagination. It is part of the fantastical imagery often found painted on trucks plying across Pakistan. Be fascinated by it and call it truck art. Be detached and you will see it as mere decoration. For a truck driver, it is the make-up of his \u201cbride\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In the metamorphosis of a truck into a bride, the body parts of the vehicle assume human aspects. The silver, metallic decoration on top of the driving cabin is a <em>taj<\/em>, a crown; the windscreen is <em>matha<\/em>, the forehead; and the bonnet is <em>hont<\/em> or lips. The lowest part of a truck\u2019s front \u2013 where the bonnet meets the chassis and tyres \u2013 is adorned with golden metal bells, <em>ghunghroos<\/em>, hanging by a series of vertical steel chains.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dawn.com\/primary\/2016\/06\/5750237c14545.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class='share-to-whatsapp-wrapper'><div class='share-on-whsp'>Share on: <\/div><a data-text='Seeking paradise: The image and reality of truck art' data-link='https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/?p=2509' class='whatsapp-button whatsapp-share'>WhatsApp<\/a><div class='clear '><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raindrops fall from the sky on bare winter trees, their branches spread in the manner of a person wailing with arms spread out. The golden beams of a sun filtering through clouds turn these droplets into prisms that throw up curious combinations of emerald, green and turquoise. Another array of raindrops gleams like small mirrors, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,61],"tags":[187],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2511,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2509\/revisions\/2511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2509"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepkmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fyst_prominent_words&post=2509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}