Picture of the Day: Pushing the Limits

Adil Najam

Vehicles like this have always fascinated me. Traveling on any major highways in Pakistan, you always enounter them. Sometimes I think these are metaphors for our national existence. Having to do more than one was designed to do. Living on the edge. Pushing the limits. Feeling overloaded and overwhelmed. Feeling burdened down. So many emotions and ideas come to mind. Maybe you can add a few yourself.

I always worry that they will suddenly tip over; they sometimes do. I also wonder how they actually load these vehicles. Its quite a balancing feat and requires some pretty impressive mental calculations as well as physical jugglery. I would really love to see one of these things being loaded up. One also has to be impressed by the vehicles themselves. This one is not even a full-fledged truck; and yet it is batting above its capacity. On the other hand, I can only wonder about the environmental efficiency or road safety of these things. These are dangerous contraptions, for those within them as well as those around them.

I just thought this picture screamed out ‘Pakistaniat’ in all sorts of ways. Note also the Qingqi in the background.

By the way, I found the picture at Flickr.com where it was posted by orelyinjapan.

P.S. After having written this, but well before posting it, I saw a similar (but different) picture posted by the very perceptible Jamash at Karachi Metroblog.