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Luminous stickers, colourful dashboards, leather seats, they all go to make up the decor of the ever popular three- wheeler
All dressed up and ready to go
By Priyanwada Ranawaka and Renu Warnasuriya
Flickering lights and blaring music announce its arrival. The plastic dashboard holds religious statues or Disney soft toys. Bright flowers in vases or bouquets, flags, a bunch of grapes or a sequinned tassel hang from the side while stickers and posters depicting fanciful landscapes camouflage the ordinary surface.

Could it be a circus float? A gypsy caravan?
It is none other than the common man's Benz, the three-wheeler, which is increasingly becoming the focus of some interesting décor.
H.M.C.K Herath's three-wheeler is one of four owned by his brother. A resident of Kandy, Herath explains that they all have identical décor with a “Chathura putha" (the name of Herath's brother's son) sticker on the back, a Disney sticker on the front, several luminous stickers on the side and a red-framed dashboard. " People recognize our vehicles and some even look out for them," says Herath.

Herath feels that once people build up a rapport with the driver, they prefer to hire the same three-wheeler every time. "Our décor makes it easier for our regular customers to spot us," he smiles.
" My brother spent about Rs.12,000 on each vehicle," says Herath. While most of the decorations were bought in Sri Lanka, some of the stickers have been bought from Kuwait.

Next he wants to fix a circuit bulb set, get bigger buffers and change the seat covers again. Business aside, Herath also admitted that he feels happy driving a good-looking three-wheeler. He strongly believes that the decorations bring him more business. " It has to look attractive for people to want to get in. No one wants to travel in a neglected three-wheeler, with broken seats and smelly carpets," says Herath.

H.A. Upali Ananda has owned his trishaw for the past nine years. When it turned five, he thought it could do with a makeover. “It depends on how much money and interest you have," says Upali who spent over Rs. 30, 000 embellishing his vehicle with extra cushioning for the passenger seat, a car seat for himself and a matching dashboard with gold borders. The finishing touches were stickers with his daughters' names. "Podi ayage asawaney?" smiles he.

While most three-wheeler drivers keep adding more and more accessories, some of them have learned the hard way that too much of anything is bad. " I had a whole lot of things including speakers, light systems, steel frames and buffers but had to remove some of his decorations because of the excessive weight and noise," says S.D. Sunil.

Yet Sunil's three-wheeler is still quite eyecatching with leatherwork on the sides of the hood. "It cost me Rs. 6500 to get this particular design done," says Sunil. Some of the drivers have taken the modifications into their own hands. A simple oilcan, for instance can be transformed into a fuel can (as found on the back of large four wheel drive vehicles). Instead of 'four wheel drive' they paint the words ‘three-wheel drive’, attach the can to the back of the vehicle….and voila! They end up with a three-wheeled Pajero.

Thuhan Rahuman has a special story behind his stickers. Rahuman's three-wheeler had been stolen a few weeks ago and he believes that it is nothing short of a miracle that brought it back. The sticker in the front with a verse from the Holy Koran, he says, was pasted soon after. "I did it to show my gratitude to Almighty Allah," he says. Rahuman now has many other stickers including one with the names of his children to make it easily identifiable.

‘Mahathung’, a three-wheel driver from Mawanella, is the proud owner of the most 'high tech' three-wheeler in the area. " Since I visit Colombo often, I check out the latest designs," says Mahathung adding that he has so far spent around Rs.60,000 on his vehicle. Mahathung's vehicle sports a red, green and white striped aerial, with a flag flying high. The flag changes with the occasion.

For Vesak, it is the Buddhist flag, for a funeral it is a white flag, for Independence Day it is a Sri Lankan flag and on normal days it is the American flag. The red three-wheeler is adorned with yellow and orange stickers and the original seats have been replaced with comfortable leather ones. " This vehicle is like my home," says Mahathung, " since I spend most of my time in it I want it to be as homely as possible."

So where does all the décor come from? Drive around Maligawatte and you'll find dozens of three wheelers getting the treatment. The business has become so popular that some of the accessories have their own jargon- "show items" they are called by sellers and buyers.

" It's a trend," says one shop owner," If one person does it, everyone wants it." The latest " show items" include dashboard covers, flags, borders, musical horns and reverse horns, special brake pedals, coloured lights, aerials, bufferguard lights, seat covers and of course, stickers.

Upholsterer Lionel Perera, says that there are various types of seats and seat covers available too. The 'Dolphin seat' was a popular choice a few months ago. “We simply replace the original seats with van seats," says Lionel. This type of modification would cost around Rs. 6,000. In vogue these days is the ‘Caravan Seat’, a van seat, of a different style.

For around Rs. 7500 one could get a complete set of regular seat covers and a leather hood. This is a common modification as most drivers replace the original Rexene hood with a leather one. The latest innovation in seat covers is towels covering the seat with images ranging from Harry Potter to Winnie the Pooh and Aishwarya Rai. The towel is encased with transparent Rexene.

So great is the demand, that some shops specialize in a single line. One such shop for instance, has been dealing with three-wheel stickers for 20 years. "We can print any type of sticker," says the owner. They also import stickers, many depicting exotic landscapes. The most expensive sticker in the shop from India costs Rs 1,000. A complete sticker makeover would cost around Rs.5,000 but most people prefer to keep adding to their collection instead of doing it all at once.

Do decorated three-wheelers have an edge over ordinary ones? 20-year-old Shenali says she would pick the cleanest three-wheeler. “I feel that drivers who take so much trouble to decorate are likely to keep their three-wheelers clean. I assume it also means that they are serious about their business," says she. But she would stay clear of trishaws with blaring stereos.

For another regular three-wheel passenger, it's an honest looking driver that counts, not the eye-catching accessories.

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