In South Asia we AL are prone to put the bullock behind the cart, whereas in other subcontinents they tend to have the horse before the trolley. The proclivity to go for form rather than content saps our energy in a billion different ways day-in and day-out, which, among other things, is why we continue to walk when we could rather ride.
Take a look at the much-adorned prototypical Pakistani truck (top picture) and you will get my drift. Every principle in the book The Inscrutable Law of Aerodynamics would tell you that the last thing you want to do with a vehicle of sizeable cross-sectional mass that needs to travel at speed is, to not make it easy for the said vehicle to cut through the air.
Instead, what do we have in the Land of the Pure? The exact opposite in design – trucks (doubtless nicely trussed up) whose proboscis jut out towards the front, constructed just perfectly to deliver massive air resistance the faster the truck moves. You would expect better from a nation that can now build short-range and long-range missiles which actually leave the launchpad.
For decades, we have marvelled at the bejewelled wonder that is the Pakistani lorry, but never have we thought of the extra diesel and gasoline burnt because of this triumph of art over science. Some may argue (as contrarian South Asians always do, pouncing on an opening for an argument just because it presents itself) that "art ko bhi to jagah chahiye" – that painted trucks too have a role to play in society. But at what cost?