Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Rickshaws are one of the cost-effective and popular means of transport in the provincial capital, but there are mixed feelings about the messages that they convey through different
paintings.

Bilal Khan, 23, hailing from Charsadda, drives his rickshaw through the busy streets of Peshawar. Inspired by Pushto telefilms, he has decorated the backside of the rickshaw with the portrait of a famous Pushto movie actor. “When I am back home after plying roads in Peshawar, the Pushto movies rejuvenate me and that is the reason that I have decorated my vehicle with the portrait of a Pushto telefilm star,” he added.

Produced mainly in Peshawar, Pushto movies have been widely criticised for being anti-culture and for being packed with violence. Masoom Khan, 35, of Navay Kalay, told this scribe on University Road that, “We are trying to make our vehicles more beautiful with such images in the hope that passengers are attracted towards them.”

The art painted on the thousands of rickshaws in the city also attracts the attention of visitors who come to Peshawar from other areas.

Zahir Shah, 30, said that pictures showing daggers or guns was not our culture and he did not like such things.

These vehicles convey a wrong message to the people about culture, Shah added.

Another visitor of the provincial capital, Nawab Khan (32), has never been to the cinema. He said: “These violent scenes on the rickshaws are giving us the taste of Pushto cinema. I do not watch movies but the pictures on rickshaws give us glimpses of movies being produced in the province nowadays.”

A long bearded man, with a brown hat on his head, carries brushes and paint canes while painting the back of a rickshaw at a local workshop on Kohat Road.

Ghulam Muhammad, alias Ustaad (45), who has been painting vehicles since 1965, remembers his old days as he said: “The drivers used to decorate their tri-wheelers with the elements of ‘Chamak Patti’, ‘Gul Kari’ (flowering) and beautiful landscapes but due to the revival of Pushto cinema to some extent,the truckers and rickshaw owners are nowadays demanding to paint their vehicles with the photos of artistes. The most favourite of portraits are those of Jahangir Jani, Shahid Khan and late Asif Khan.”

Furthermore, he mentioned structural changes, paintings, calligraphy, and ornamental decor like mirror work on the front and back were also in vogue. “By using the paintings of violent images of their idols on the backsides of the rickshaws, the drivers want to add more colour to their lives,” Ustaad said, adding that the depiction of historical scenes and funny poetic verses on vehicles were also common in the region.

A media consultant, Bushra Iqbal (40), said that art was a very powerful medium and can be used to amplify messages in any campaign.

The brightly painted trucks and rickshaws carried strong messages from one part of Pakistan to another, she said.

She also said that artwork at rickshaws shows the mindset of the public and influences minds in the society. She said that if this art was used for positive messages,it can promote peace and bring about a positive change in the society.