Shahdab Shakir belongs to a family that has pursued truck art as a profession since the last three generations. His father Mohammed Shakir was also the teacher of Hyder Ali, Aklaq and Behzad. Shahdab saw the people of his family slowly distance themselves from this profession. His uncles’ children did not pursue this profession as it was no longer lucrative. Training as an AC serviceman Shahdab, could not resist the smell of paint and turpentine. He decided to adopt the profession of his family elders and became a phoolpatti artist.
Shadab feels that the advent of technology specially panaflex printing and the rising inflation has limited the scope of phoolpatti. With relatively curtailed spending power, transporters are opting for panaflex printing of truck art motifs specially on smaller vehicles. However, Shahdab refuses to work on objects decorated with the truck art motifs. Being a purist at heart he feels truck art is best when applied to the big vehicles.
