Adil Najam
All this talk of the London Taxi coming to Pakistan has sent me into a bout of nostalgia about the Tanga (anglicized by some to become a ‘Tonga’). Its still there, but fast on the way to extinction; especially after the arrival of the Qingqi (a ‘Qingqi’ is the poor man’s London Taxi; or what Tangas become with globalization; more on teh ‘Qingqi’ later).
I remember going to school on a tanga that worked kind of like a communal school bus; I wish my children can still ride on one before it disappears totally.
lol…very true…just like its not fun riding a yellow cab unless it is driven by a NYC Cabbie!!! Unfortunately Ive never had a chanse to experience a Tanga Sawari as of yet !!! lets see what the future awaits…
Glad to know that the Tanga is not going extinct, even if it is disappearing from the large ccities.
I must confess that I would not count the Pennsylvania Dutch Country carraige (traditional although it is) as a Tanga… after all, what is the tanga without the ‘tangay wallah’… or walli… anyone remember the movie ‘Yakkey Walli’?
Qingqi (pronounced ching-chee) is a joint venture formed in 1985 between Jinan Qingqi and Suzuki of Japan.
Its a kind of Vespa.
http://www.qingqi.com.cn/ebusiness/en/index.asp
Tangas are available here in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
I still use Tanga when I go home (in the village). It will take another five decades (or more) before animal power is replaced with machenical power in here.
I still remember the Tangas at the Empress Market bus stop in Saddar, Karachi. The noise, the pollution and the smell of dung, while repugnant in many ways in sweltering Karachi June heat, was still remindful of the days when one could ride one of the ‘Shahi Sawaris’ in the evening and go to watch a movie on Bunder road. All that is mostly gone now. All that we have left is the noise, pollution and stinking smell of millions of motorcyclists trying to race their way past the city dwellers.