Buddha’s truck with trilateral aspirations

A truckload of aspirations: I was traveling along the curvy Tribhuvan rajpath, heading towards Tistung Deurali, last week when I saw this truck parked precariously on the edge of the road above a house. I stopped for a few minutes to take stock of the situation including the geopolitical one. Would I live in the house under the existing circumstance? No way.

From left: Narendra Modi, Sita Dahal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Xi Jinping yesterday in Goa. Pic by Prakash Dahal — *From left:* Narendra Modi, Sita Dahal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Xi Jinping yesterday in Goa. Pic by Prakash Dahal

The sight of the truck that had tasked itself with the vital responsibility of promoting and maintaining the trilateral relations struck me. The vehicle also aspired to connect the two most populous countries on earth with Nepal, the birthplace of Buddha and the zone of peace, as a transit hub. I admit I didn’t know at the time of taking this photo the leaders of three countries would actually listen to the Truck and meet in Goa as they did yesterday.

एउटा गहन जिम्मेदारी: अघिल्लो हप्ता टिस्टुङ देउरालीलाई लक्ष बनाएर त्रिभुवन राजपथमा हुँइकिरहेको बेला मैले यो ट्रक देखेको थिएँ । एउटा घरभन्दा एक कान्लोमाथिको सडक किनारमा अप्ठेरोगरी पार्क गरिएको अवस्थामा यो बाहन देख्दा अवस्थाको अाँकलन गर्न र सम्भवत: भूराजनीतिबारे पनि केही गम्न म रोकिएको थिएँ । यही हालतमा के म त्यो घरमा बसुँला ? अहँ ।

ट्रकले त्रिपक्षीय सम्बन्धको प्रबर्द्धन गर्ने र त्यसलाई कायम राख्ने गहन जिम्मेवारी अाफ्नो काँधमा लिएको देख्दा म गम्भीर बनेको थिएँ । त्यतिमात्रै हैन ट्रकले भगवान बुद्धको जन्मस्थल, शान्तिक्षेत्र नेपाललाई पारवहन केन्द्र बनाएर पृ्थ्वीका दुई सबैभन्दा बढी जनसंख्या भएका मुलुकहरूलाई जोड्ने अाकांक्षा पनि लिएको थियो । फोटो खिच्दाको यो क्षण तीन देशका नेताहरूले यो ट्रकलाई सुन्ने छन् र हिजो गोवामा भेटेझैं भेट्नेछन् भन्ने मलाई के थाहा ।

Another entry on truck: An ‘AirTruck’. Headed to China.

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2 responses to “Buddha’s truck with trilateral aspirations”

thisisyouth

October 18, 2016

I love the creativity one sees on the trucks in Nepal! Where I am from (USA), all trucks are simply painted white. Most boring.
1. Dinesh Wagle
  
  October 18, 2016
  
  Decorating a truck and writing interesting, mostly lyrical, messages on it has been a popular tradition in Nepal’s relatively recent exposure to automobile/road world. There’s even a whole ‘genre’ called Truck Literature in Nepal, dedicated to those creatively worded poems written on the back of the trucks.
  
  As for trucks being the canvas for creative painters, I love the nicely done paint work. I spotted this “airtruck” (loved it!) near Nepal’s border with China a few months ago. My friend Deepak found ‘Che Guevara’ in Chitwan, closer to Nepal’s border with India, a couple of years ago.

Dinesh Wagle on Nepali Society