Autorickshaw Keychain Holder
Remember getting into an auto with five other people? It was so much fun! The exceptional joy of everyone piling into the auto, crushing your friends to the side, making someone sit on your lap or sometimes sharing the seat with the driver is something I don’t forget. I remember, I was so excited to share that experience with my children. I had prepared them for the seatbelt less, jumpy, and swerving ride as best as their imagination allowed. It was definitely a precious memory to go with them on their first auto ride. My son was holding on to the bars for dear life with a look of horror and fear on his face and my daughter being small was thrown up and down and every which way as she tried to stay on the seat. With the auto being so open, the sensation of the motorcycles, the cars, buses, and other autos coming so close to you was scary for the kids. The auto trips were the highlight of that India visit and they returned back home with Auto toys as souvenirs.
Growing up the auto was a luxury and something we rarely went on. Buses or my dad’s vespa was the usual mode of transport. But I do remember going to the temple by auto with many aunts and cousins, all dressed in our festival clothes for the special celebrations squished into an auto. Climbing into autos with our suitcases and bags to go to the railway station to catch our train is another favorite memory. I also remember standing in the front of the vespa with dad driving, trying to read the words and phrases that are unique to each auto. They are a canvas for public service announcements like “hum do humare do” (We two ours two) or “smoking is injurious to your health”. The spelling mistakes on some of the autos were always hilarious or embarrassing. Be it the faces of actors and actresses, punch lines from movies, or pictures of gods and goddesses; the colorful artwork and glitzy lights are unique and representative of the autowala. The artwork on an auto may not be traditionally considered folk art but it is a form of expressive culture, similar to dance or food and it reflects cultural aesthetics and social issues. It represents the mood of the people, the community, ethnicity, gender, and religion.
This was a fairly easy project. I used a small piece of leftover wood and painted this using acrylic paints and sealed the entire painted surface using a semi-gloss sealer. I did use a stencil for the border on this and painted that part using two very similar shades of red for that tone on tone look. To complete it, I simply pushed in some hooks and added a wall hanging hook on the back.
For this project I wanted a functional piece. My dad says, “enough”, as I am running out of walls in my home to express myself. So keeping that in mind, I figured a functional purpose justifies another piece on the walls. I have been lucky where my interests and the work I do triggers and reawakens memories and experiences. It allows me a chance to relive them and even explore my emotions in new ways. I hope you enjoy this post and it reminds you of similar childhood experiences.