Part jeep, part pick-up van, ''Chander Gari'' is a strange vehicle that has a miraculous carrying capacity. One can see passengers clinging from the back, sitting on the roof, hanging from the sides--to speak nothing about those who sit inside. Even some folks, adventurous as they are, huddle on the bonnet in front of the front window. How the driver manages to see his way is a matter of speculation.

In addition to passengers, the vehicle also carries timber, vegetables, and other goods. Crammed with people or things, the vehicle moves at a decent speed through the narrow roads--medalled, gravelly or dusty--to the remote corners of Chittagong. Rain or shine, the vehicles must ply the arteries of the said place.

The illustrations on the sides of this carrier--balloons, rockets, and flowers-- are eye-catching. In fact, the motifs of these paintings are unpretentious and rather humdrum.

Those city-dwellers who wonder at the amazing carrying capacity of a tempo should see this vehicle, which often gives the impression of a dead beetle, swarmed with ants.

Zabed Wali

On e-mail