Travel on any busy highway in the US, and you will spot intimidating trucks roaring passed the tiny cars alongside them. However, in other areas of the world, trucks are not seen as speeding nuisances. In India, for example, they are travelling works of art.
Truck drivers in India have worked closely with specialized artists for generations to practice the use of trucks for artistic representation. The exquisite blend of colors, shapes, symbols, and slogans on trucks illustrates the personality of the driver and serves as a form of identification of his character. To a driver, his truck represents a home on wheels, a workplace, and a shrine. The symbolism on the richly painted exterior is imminent: the iconography of deities offer protection, and Bollywood stars and political figures portray the ideals of the person behind the wheel. Interior decorations, in contrast, include ornaments and bangles to remind the driver of his home, wife, and children.
India’s economy runs on wheels, and these trucks ensure its stable flow. With countless rural, isolated villages laying in the midst of millions of acres of land, these trucks are often the only contact the local people have with outside settlements. Because of this, the designs painted on the trucks are not merely an artistic whim, but also a shrewd business idea. Their artistic designs remind us that, regardless of the situation, there is always a way to find—and create—beauty where there seems to be none.
