Decorating a cycle rickshaw in Bangladesh costs 25 per cent of the total price of the vehicle. A postcard-sized book traces the evolution of this quaint urban art form

Author of Moving Pictures -- Rickshaw Art of Bangladesh, Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt says Bengalis from both sides of the border share language, appearance, food and cultural nuances. What they don't share is Bangladesh's fervour to turn a plain and ordinary cycle rickshaw into a mobile work of art. Select excerpts:

Born out of migration
Dhaka's population explosion has been unprecedented. The urban expansion and growth are characterised by extreme congestion, requiring modes of transport that would be suitably cheap, labour-intensive and not high-tech. Cycle rickshaws proved to be just that. They were drawn in the streets by thousandsu00a0 of rural migrants who moved into the city without many skills, in search of a better future.

We owe it to Japan
The Japanese invented the jin riki sha, or 'man-powered car' in 1867, when a trio in Tokyo drew inspiration from the horse and carriage...Whilst Japan didn't persist with rickshaws, elsewhere rickshaws became ubiquitous. Each Asian country added its distinctive characteristic to the designs and the riders of the rickshaws; those of urban Bangladesh are glittering exceptions as they are the most numerous, brightly coloured and intricately adorned of them all.

The first cycle rickshaw came to Bangladesh from Calcutta in the 1930s, apparently not to Dhaka, but to a town just to the south (Narayanganj). The import of rickshaws is attributed to jute exporting sahibs residing in Dhaka or to a local landlord importing one for the women of the family.

Created in bustis
The essential decoration of the rickshaw is carried out where the rickshaws are assembled and maintained, on the edges of rickshaw bustis. These are ramshackle shops carrying materials and spare parts, or workshops where the canopy trimmings are sewn up. Here the frame is painted by a mistri, a craftsperson, an artisan or a workman... Various applique decorations are sometimes fixed to the canopy. The handle bars have tassels and even little brass urns.

Only men, well, almost
A survey conducted in 1994 found 224 shops selling rickshaw paintings by 98 artists and 34 body painters in 52 locations in Dhaka city. About half the rickshaw painters are migrants from different parts of Bangladesh and about one-third of them are illiterate.

The masculine world of rickshaw artists indeed has few exceptions; Alauddin, one of the oldest painters and a respected artist, introduced his young daughter Afroza Banu as part of his studio of artists.

Tracing the art
Banglapedia too notes rickshaw art as an urban folk phenomenon, but stresses that it shares similarity of theme and execution with movie billboards...

Images of rickshaw paintings turned the liberation war of Bangladesh into a social commentary by explicitly depictingu00a0 the tortures being inflicted by the Pakistani army. The plight of rural women in the hands of the army was most vividly depictedu00a0... After the Dhaka Municipality imposed a ban 'for the sake of decency', there began a rush of painting scenes from Indian and Pakistani films, rural scenery, animals, foreign heroes such as Bruce Lee and Tarzan, and political leaders.u00a0u00a0

Puns make it to the seats
You never hail a rickshaw as 'hey rickshaw' but say 'hey, khali', the term 'khali' standing for 'empty'. Consequently, new words are being created every day. The latest addition is 'chianji', standing for CNG.

Moving Pictures Rickshaw -- Art of Bangladesh
Mapin Publishing
Text and photographs by Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and David J Williams
Rs 450
Available at leading bookstores

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