Indian truckers love to decorate their trucks
Truckers love to decorate their trucks. They spend more time inside their trucks than with their families. Trucks deliver about 50% of all goods in India.
Indian logistics market is worth $ 100bn ( INR 800,000 cr). About 85 lakh truckers traverse 115,000 kilometers of 87 Indian highways. Truckers drive about 1000 kilometers per day to earn INR 15000 to INR 25000 per month. They spend between 15 days to 20 days per month away from homes. Decorated trucks helps in killing the monotony. Drivers ask to paint figures, rivers, jungles, couplets and symbols from various faiths and traditions.
Nafees Khan is a truck artist. He has a Facebook profile, which has 5000 friends and more than 3000 followers. Being online has increased his business. He has been painting for 32 years. He works on one truck every day. He says, “ Since I am from Rajasthan, I follow the tradition of intricate decoration. I practice meenakari, which is the art of colouring metal surfaces with bright colours.”
Like healthcare workers truckers are front line workers. More than 1/3rd truckers sleep only between 2hours to 4hours everyday. About 1 lakh road accidents involve truckers. Also more than 30% of truckers face mental health issues. Lockdown has made 50% of the truckers unavailable. Without them supplies won’t move.