Ok no we aren’t talking religion here when people are stoned to death when they do big sins, and also it’s not like smoking pot and getting stoned. We are talking cars here and when it comes to cars, young Saudis have mastered many arts from pulling all kinds of drifts to reaching the higest speed on the odometer, to even changing two of the car tires while driving on the other two.
So what is car stoning really?
what is said above doesn’t seem enough fun for young Saudis and the boredom these guys live in, has led them to invent a new car art called “Car Stoning” “Tahjir” which involves cramming the bottom and the top of the car with piles of stones or bricks to give it the artistic look, which looks beautifully weird and kind of impressive especially when you see multiple cars stacked in one place. The process constitutes of main two steps:
Step 1: is the hardest step where the car is lifted diagonally in the air and piles of bricks are stuffed underneath, any mistake here can sabotage the whole thing and it will have to be repeated from the beginning.
Step 2: is the fun step now colorful stones are used to create shapes, words and symbols. Even during this step a special attention should be considered as weighting one side more than the other can cause an imbalance or even the car to flip.
The result is an unusual type of creative art which is both wired and fascinating.
Why people do it?
It’s thought to be one of the fastest growing hobbies between young men in Saudi for many reasons including the competitive spirit between the guys to construct the best looking piece of art, and also to kill boredom and emptiness; others even consider it as a type of meditation. Some people take the challenge further by stoning more than one car at once and this considered the toughest type of stoning.
How long does it take to apply and how to remove it?
Typically it will take a time between 4 to 7 hours and sometimes even 10 hours, it all depends on several factors like the size of the car and the number of people involved in the process. To un-stone the car is by removing the bricks from top and underneath the car this also has to be strategically done as an imbalance might happen when removing more from one side than the other.
Is it dangerous?
Well, it certainly not as dangerous as it is for drifting, speeding and reckless driving, It isn’t harmful at all if it was done properly because at step 1 the car should be stable on the stones, any single mistake or a stone not positioned correctly will cause all the piles to fall and maybe damage the car parts.
Do you think its an art that should spread around the world and contest made upon it just like car racing and drifting completion or you think it’s a waste of time and people should look for something better to do? Please let us know what you think in the comment section below.
(Pictures from Reuters photographer Mohamed Hwaity and other open sources)
