Pakistan Truck Art

You may or may not have heard of Foxy Shehzadi, a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle painted with unique Pakistani truck art that travelled from Islamabad to Paris sometime back... I had read about it in some obscure corner of a newspaper, however only recently when I met the gentleman who had painted the somewhat famous Foxy Shehzadi that I came to appreciate the Pakistani Truck Art. 

Ustab Habib Painting Foxy Shehzadi's Sister

Foxy Shehzadi in Paris

What is Truck Art?

In words of Peter Grant 'The extraordinary tradition of decorating buses and trucks has its roots in the days of the Raj when craftsmen made glorious horse drawn carriages for the gentry. In 1920s the Kohistan Bus Service asked the Master Craftsman, Ustad Elahi Buksh to decorate their buses to attract passengers. Ustad Elahi hired a group of artists from the town of CHiniot in Punjab who's ancestors had worked on great palaces and temples dating back to the time of Moughals. It was not long before everyone else followed suit.'

Truck Art has recently gained popularity as a form of art, with various arts and organizations working towards promoting and marketing this form of expression... Tribal Truck Art is on such organization where one can purchase house hold items such as trays, lanterns etc adorned with Truck Art. 
As for me, I am happy with my latest acquisition... The Truck Art Watering Pot :)))

And if all this doesn't satisfy you, perhaps you can order your own customized truck art piece with Ustad Habib

My Little Spring Peeping Tom

A picture of my little visitor tapping away on the window in the morning

Beautiful Khairpur Weaves

While visiting Daachi Mela, organized by Daachi Foundation, I came across some beautiful Hand Woven shawls from Khairpur. Khairpur is the twelfth largest city in the province of Sindh. It was founded in 1783 by Mir Sohrab Khan. The settlement was selected as the seat of the Mirs of northern Sindh. Today, It is the capital of the modern Khairpur District. The great mystic Sufi Sachal Sarmast came from this city. The city is known for beautiful handloom fabrics... these shawls being my newest and most exciting discovery. Whats éven better? My new found friends Dilwaer Ali and Mohammad Ghulam who are looking forward to creating some customized designs for me :))

Some images from the Daachi Mela Khairpur Stalls

Beautiful Variety of Cotton and Silk Weaves

Ghulamali at Work.

AND... while reading up on the city, I came the most romaaaaaantic picture which is pulling me to Khairpur... I think I'll ask Ali to chalk up yet another local Pakistan dream destinations on our list.

Faiz Mahal in Khairpur, The Seat of the Mir

Rang Mahal

Amongst the many small markets situated within Shah Alam, Rang Mahal is probably one of the most busy and famous ones. Given that the new Shah Alam parking tower is constructed at Rang Mahal, if youre braving Shah Alam chances are this is where your journey will start.

Rang Mahal is the pertinent bazaar of the gate which remains jam-packed throughout the day. It is the gateway towards one of the busiest and financially giant markets of Lahore, which primarily trade in wholesale rates. From jewelry to garments, crockery to grocery, ceramic vessels to that of iron, wedding accessories to that of offices, electronic gadgets to toys for kids you’ll find almost each and every thing found under the globe here.

What I was haunted by at Rang Mahal was this beautiful school building. Almost always, when I see a building such as this I close my eyes to picture what it must have been like 'back in the day' when it was built... Once perhaps a missionary school, the 'Christian' on the school sign has crudely been removed.

Govt Rang Mahal 'Christian' High School

On my first trip I just walked past this building, peeping inside to catch a glimpse but I made it a point to sit and have a meal here the second time around. Small shops have been formed in the arches of this building... perhaps as a way to earn some revenue for the school or perhaps just good old encroachments. I am sure this building will be any photographers dream.

View from inside arch 2 (from left)

Spring is here...

After braving a hail storm and days of unexpected rain, the flowers are finally ready to bloom in my garden.

My Happy Place.

In the yogic tradition the word used for Energy, Life, Breath collectively is Prana... to explain this further... Everything around you has its own energy or life force their own Prana. In this symbiotic world where we all take and give from everything around us, the concept of positive and negative prana took birth. For example, there are some people you meet, places you go, foods you eat that make you feel elated, energetic, positive... while there are some people you meet who seem to drain all positivity and energy out of you... the former are Positive Prana and Latter Negative.

Some years back when i started doing Art of Living, it all was very new and sounded a little too yogic for my corporate being. However, over the years, while I never managed to become an Art of Living regular, I did take a few things away from it... The concept of Prana being one of them. It's actually pretty simple when you break it down - eliminate the negatives, build on the positives. While it still may seem a little complicated, I thought I'd show you a glimpse of my backyard, known amongst my near and dear as my Magic Garden.

When I moved into our house after my marriage a year and a half ago, we took upon ourselves to turn the backyard into a magical happy place... We got a bit of the soil paved so we could sit outside and enjoy the place. The trees that my mother in law had planted some years ago whole heartedly welcomed us and happily dangled the bamboo windchimes we bought on our honeymoon. We were gifted a beautiful green recycled plactic bench that you can see in this picture and we recultivated Ali's father's vegetable patch which was barren-ish since he passed away a few years ago.

Our beautiful Citrus Tree this Winter

Today, we have fairy lights around the trees at night, a beautiful swing, a small but happy vegetable patch, dangling wind chimes and a house for the bright yellow chair set which is older than my husband :)) I'll try adding a few more pictures of the other side of the garden we have a pebble patch and beautiful flowering vines. While the Garden is no where close to where it will be in a few years, it is our happy place and evolves as we live on in the house.


Some of the trees that we planted a year ago, are growing with us. The little lot exuberates positive prana for me and hopefully my friends also who sometimes come hang out with us in here sometime.The pictures below inspire me to make this place happier and richer... Ideas are welcome :))

The Bustling Streets of Shah Alam

This hub for whole sale shopping and distribution to the whole of Pakistan (also often dubbed as the largest whole sale market in Asia) is situated in the Old Walled City of Lahore next to the where once, one of the elevan gates of Lahore stood tall. The "Shah-Alami Gate" is named after the one of the sons of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Shah Alam I. Before his death, the gate was called the "Bherwala Gate." During the 1947 independence riots, the gate was burned.

Shopping in 'Shah-Alami' as it is fondly known now is an experience where sights and sounds over whelm you and the scenery changes with each Gali or Street that you walk into. From the Brass Street selling brass made lighting fixtures, to Bartan Street selling all sorts of Kitchen Utencils... some of the streets I walked through on Day 2 of the Shah Alami adventure included streets dedicated to Shoes, Hand Embroidered Fabrics, Bridal Dresses, Beads and Laces, Jewellery, Children's Clothing, Kitchen Utencils, Embroidery Threads, Block Printing artisans etc... Everything is WHOLESALE.

A shelf of a three story building dedicated to whole sale ribbons

Bales of Cotton thread for Hand Embroidery

As we walked back with bags full of shopping I was already planning my next trip to the place. There is so much more to explore and see, I think you will surely be hearing more on Shah Alami in the coming days.