Six months on the road

Koushik Udayashankar's spent six months without using a horn -- yes, it is possible:

I finished work one evening and hopped onto Vroomie (my best girl) [yes, he really has named his Thunderbird Vroomie, we still love you, anyway, UK] to get home. An idiot got in my way -- one of those always always seem to. Of course, I honked at him, loudly and vigorously. Except that all I got was a wheeze. I wondered about it but kept driving. I soon got home and all was forgotten.

The next morning, another idiot almost run over - again, there was just silence when I tried to honk at the fool who’d tried to send me to jail. I was officially worried now, and got off to find Vroomie looking a tad pale. My horn was hanging by a wire and it looked like someone had nicked it while it was parked. Grrrr.

There began my quest to see if I could survive the madness of our roads without a horn. And it has been six months. Six glorious months of no blaring horns from Vroomie, not even a squeak. I still press the button when I need to honk and the silence is so much louder. My dependence on the pass light has increased and I am quite amazed that people seem to respect it more. It lets me pass while people wait, it lets me overtake from the right, it lets me overtake from the left, it even screams idiot when someone gets in my way. Silence, I guess, is sometimes so much louder than words.

Even better, I am a more careful rider now. Not having a horn comes with added responsibility; with the knowledge that the guy in front cannot see or hear you, that the old lady crossing the road probably can't hear you anyway.

I am certainly not proposing that we go around breaking horns off people's bikes. The challenge of not using a horn is certainly fun and it would do world-stress a huge favour but responsibility comes at a cost - the cost of peaceful motoring - something that isn't for the weak hearted.

[SmalNote: Give not honking a shot -- just for today]

I cant believe I am saying this....

Ive been away from India for 6 months almost and I miss the honking! Only missing home can do this to you. I would love to wake up one day to the ridiculous honking of Pali mala road.

Who owes who?

This morning, I came up with a unique way to address the honking issue of auto drivers. I took an auto from Pali naka to Bandra reclamation - Those not aware of the distance - Its hardly 1.5 kms. This ride takes around 5 minutes without traffic and 10 with traffic. On reaching my destination, I told the guy looks at me and tells me - "Atara" (18 Rs). In return, I told him - "Appko paanch rupaya mujhe dena padega - Kyunki aapne Theyees (23) baar horn mara aur har baar jab horn maarte ho, uske liye 1 rupaya aapko dena padega".

The guy was zapped completely.. But, I think he got the point. After a few seconds, giving him time to recover from the shock, I paid him 18 Rs. and left. But, i think this would have created a good impact.

Please don't honk

The new version of Hear No Evil ... Please don't Honk !

New signage in Bombay

Just noticed a car in Bombay with a sign "Honk if you love Jesus". Christ - Who the hell makes these stickers?

Honking Allowance or Horn Quota

Was thinking of approaching the traffic police and writing a petition to the Automobile association of India (maybe thats not even an organisation) about a concept called Honking Allowance. And for the benefit of the masses, it shall be called Horn Quota.

Basically, every vehicle that is manufactured henceforth, would have a honking tracking device, which would disable the horn after the driver has used it 30 times. 30 is a generous allowance - 1 honk per day. After the horn gets disabled, the driver can use it only the next month. Basically, that would have 1st of every month unbearable and the rest of the month potentially no honking days.

For vehicles that already exist, a honking quota certificate needs to be issued from the nearest petrol pump. Like you have a PUC for pollution, why not a HUC (honking under control) for noise pollution.

If any of you think there is merit in this idea, do get in touch with me through comments and lets get started on this proposal.

Honking is not a substitute for the doorbell or the cellphone

A newly discovered pain area... Honking outside my building..

Guys come and honk outside my building as a signal to draw the attention of a 2nd floor resident.
Well... have you heard of parking the car and walking two flights up and ringing the door bell. If thats difficult, how about calling the person using a mobile phone.

I am planning to keep egg's or buckets of water next to my window sill. One of these 2 things shall fly down towards the car, the next time I hear a 'paan paan pa pa paan'.
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