Adil Najam
I recieved a couple of emails with this picture today, and then saw it poste by Vaqas on Metroblog Lahore (see earlier picture here). A great picture by Awais Lodhi. We at ATP have a long-standing fascination with rickshaws (here, here, here, here an here). But, this, of course, is about political commentary, not just about rickshaws.
My best attempt at a translation of the ‘writing on the rickshaw’ is:
Addressed to Honorable General Musharraf Sahib. Accept my congratulations on the passage of the women’s rights bill. Now, please, also give us a bill on Men’s rights. We will be greatful. It is very difficult to drink these days.
Must confess, I am not fully sure how the last line fits. Please suggest a better translation if you will. Or offer commentary on this commentary.
Drink can be within quotes…until there is an agreement on the meaning.
Even BBC has picked this one up; (http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/interactivity/captions/ story/2007/02/070202_your_caption.shtml)
…back to how bloggers lead the way for main stream media. :)
Adil, I was wondering when you are going to jump on the bandwagon :)
“peeney pilaney ke liye baRi taNgi hoti hai” might be roughly translated in Delhi Hindi into “there are a lot of hassles due to the prevalent bribery everywhere”. I would presume that the meaning would be similar in Lahori Urdu.
The ‘ke liye’ is incorrect language but the meaning is still conveyed.
Salamalikum,
I could be very wrong here, but I think “penay pilnay” means rishwat-culture here. Could it be? I know the actual term is “chai pani”, but if I take Dr. Najam’s translation, then this really doesn’t make sense to me. I mean water drinking is not a problem for men only. On the other hand, men have to mostly deal with people looking for rishwat before they do your work in Pakistan.