Being a two wheeler rider most of
the time and an occasional four wheeler driver on Madras roads, I am witness to a symphony
every time I am on road. Not one by Raja or Rahman, but a symphony of cacophony
to say the least! I am referring to the intermittent honking on Madras (of course all Indian roads, we are all the
same everywhere) roads.
Indian riders and drivers honk just
like that, thinking the horn is but an extension of the ABC – Accelerator, Brake,
Clutch! We can see them honking just when a signal is still red and about to
turn green. When u have slowed down to turn left or right. When u r not
accelerating at the speed at which they want u to go. Or, the ubiquitous, I-want-to-go-first mentality, which most
of us have in our blood. I think our persistent use of the horn is a reflection
of our intolerance and venting of frustration. We are frustrated with almost everything
in life. Why do we need to honk? There is a horn in a vehicle to signal
something to a third party. Actually, it is just a safety equipment. You use the
horn to tell the person something which he should know. This means that the
usage is required only when necessary.
The other side of the argument (and
again, is very relevant for Indians) is the we need to be old something always.
When we are on the road, we tend to gaze at a lot of things, slowing down our
vehicles – movie posters, billboards, people (to put it mildly). Or, the universal bad habit of the past few
years – talking on the mobile when riding or driving. Some people really tend
to forget that they are on a road – they are so immersed in conversations. Further,
most of our pedestrians use the road instead of platforms (again, an aside to
this is that most of our platforms are owned by hawkers. There are also a lot of
jaywalkers on Indian roads. We act as though we own the roads – we don’t follow
the speed limits laid down (again, if at
all they are laid down). I feel that one should not cross 25 kmph in
residential areas. Very few city roads allow you to speed (and I am saying 40 kmph!). We either are fast or slow. We go slow
when we start searching for a particular place on the road. The ideal thing to
do at that time is to use the parking light.
In my fleeting visits abroad, I
have observed that honking is virtually non-existent. A horn is used only when
it is very necessary. Honking is considered an offence. There are even no-honking
zones.
I real hope that one day our pom-pom happy guys n gals learn from them.
