A typical Pakistani truck driver spends more time with his truck than he does with his wife.
Which explains why he wants his 10-ton six-wheeler to look like a new bride.
These trucks plying across Pakistans national highways and the neighboring country of Afghanistan are distinctively ostentatious.
The entire trucks, from top to bottom, are a riot of colors.
When the truck is in motion, these bells clang against each other like a new bridesghungroo.
This is where the nickname jingle trucks come fromcoined by US troops deployed in Afghanistan.
Photo credit:ISAF Public Affairs/Flickr
And it isnt just trucks alone.
Originally trucks were painted with each companys logo so that illiterate people could recognize who owned the trucks.
Gradually, these logos became more fanciful, flamboyant and competitive.
By the 1950s, stylized murals and frescoes had begun to replace them.
Pimping out a truck this way cost truck owners a small fortune.
Some spend upwards of $10,000 outfitting their rigs.
Unbelievably, many truckers will return to the workshop every three or four years for a full vehicle makeover.
I remember one driver who told me that he put his life and livelihood into the truck.
If he didnt honor it with the proper paint job, he would feel he was being ungrateful.
Truck painting is also a big business.
In Karachi city alone, more than 50,000 people are engaged in this unregulated yet lucrative industry.
Over the years, however, the business has changed.
Now instead of meticulously hand painting each truck, mass produced stickers and adornments are used.
This is because truck painters treat their work as a source of livelihood.
