Owais Mughal
Many of you may have already seen this photo. It appears in today’s Dawn and shows a man over machine over animal, riding down a Lahore road. Can you suggest an interesting title for the picture?
I noted the following intriguing points that may help in formulating the best title. I am sure you can point out more.
- Note how the motorcycle rider to the right is swerving to pass this combo ride.
- Looks like the loaders have tried to be a little considerate to other traffic (but not a whole lot) as the car body seems to be loaded at an angle on the donkey-cart. Is it done to give room to other traffic to pass?
- The car to the left seems to be the working model of the same car whose dead body is being transported on the donkey-cart.
- Note the expression on donkey’s face. He seems to care less for the photo and is walking head down thinking about the car on his back; which is obviously higher than him in social status; in these poetic terms:
zameeN pe paaoN nakhuwwat se nahiN rakhte pari-pekar
ye goya is makaaN ki doosri manzil meiN rehtay haiN[Fairy like people are too proud to walk on earth
It is as if they live on the second floor all their life]
In Urdu exams whenever there was a question about explaining a poem or a verse, we always used to write a similar verse (mumaasil sher) from our memory to impress the examiner. To impress you guys, I’ve found a ‘mumaasil’ photo which also seemed to be taken in Lahore. I guessed it from the rickshaw’s license plate alphabets. Is anybody impressed :)
Ok here is a title that comes to my mind for both of these photos:
baar-e-alam uThaaya, rang-e-nishat dekha
aaye nahiN haiN yooN hi andaz be-hissi ke
FQ, You have come up with an interesting analogy :)
“Making an ass of technlogy” :D
The donkey symbolizes the Pakistani ‘awaam’ (masses) and the shell of Suzuki Alto (car of the masses) represent the empty promises made by the Pakistani “Leaders”, during the last 57 years. I did not include the leadership of the first two years …
So with that in mind the title could be: Will the donkey overturn the cart?
here it goes for vehicles as well as donkey..
Layee Hayaat Aaye , Qaza Le Chali Chale
Apni Khushi Aaye Na Apni Khushi Chale
”Kon Khota Raha”
Sab Dekhte Rahey….Baatein Hoti Rahin….Koi Khota Raha
Gaari Chalti Rahi….Boajh Barhta Raha….Mein Khota Raha
This may be too serious for this picture, and could well be applied to a number of other posts in discussion right now, but maybe — if the khoota was the philosophical type — it might be thinking the following as it labors under the laad of modernity:
jiss dhaj say koee maqtal meiN gaya, woh shaan salamat rehti hai
yeh jaan tou aani jaani hai, iss jaan ki koee baat nahiN
Globalization at work
jitthoon dey khotay, uthoon hee aan khalotey!