This Truck has Got to be Special

This Truck has Got to be Special

Juvenile fiction
"Today, I am at a truck-yard in Taxila, over two hundred miles
south of my home village. I have come to get my truck painted. Two
days ago, I paid off the last installment on the loan I'd taken to buy
this truck. I have driven it for over five years, and today it's
mine. After 30 years of being on the road, I have my own truck, and
want it painted in bright, welcoming colors..."
Chinar, narrator of Anjun Rana's This Truck has Got to be
Special, was born into a poor family in Pakistan. Not only was he
unable to attend school, but his family needed the money he could
earn. He rode a truck for weeks at a time, cleaning the truck every
time it stopped. Eventually he was promoted to truck driving. Now he
owns his own truck.
"I love to drive, and I am very possessive about driving my
truck. The excitement of the road, more so, when you can actually
choose the route you want to go on, as I have--that's something I
won't trade with anyone or anything."
Chinar's truck is about to be painted, a process that will take
days and involve many decisions. Even the inside of the cab will be
decorated. Don't be thinking detailing like what's done in the United
States. In Pakistan it's taken to whole new dimensions as an art
form. In the section on the making of the book it says:
"...painted Pakistani trucks in all their resplendent and
stately beauty, intrigued us. They appeared all the more special,
given their everyday context: they are driven along some of the most
difficult mountainous terrain in the world, in all kinds of weather.
The art they feature is remarkable therefore for its spirit of
celebrating beauty and bringing a sense of wonder into an otherwise
tough working life..."
The illustrations are perfect for the book. The trucks are
center stage, being the only splashes of color set against
monochromatic backgrounds.
On a personal note, as the year winds down we're doing special things
at UMaine. At Wilson Center we frosted cookies. Active Minds had a
holiday party. Career Center had a posh cookies and cocoa affair.
Those therapy dogs in the library drew quite a crowd. At Leadwell we
put our names on papers and everyone else wrote on our paper. It was
an early Christmas gift to read all the special things people said
about me. Tonight is hunger banquet. Next week there will be exam
stress busters including the chance to stuff a moose. I'm going to
get there early to bag my moose to keep my rainbow bears
company. :-)
Black Bear Exchange got a humungous delivery of food from a drive. I
helped my good friend Marcy check the expiration dates. We had our
contest to find the oldest. I won with 1995. Someone gave a food
item older than my son.
A great big shout out goes out to the people making the events happen
and participating in them and Marcy who, among other things, launders
all clothes donated to BBE and lets me know when the coolest items
arrive.
jules hathaway





Sent from my iPod