A small article in today's paper told me that Ahmedabad is observing "No horn day" today. This simply means, when you go out on the road today on your two or four wheeler, keep your finger off the horn. Did we really follow it?
Honestly speaking, I forgot about it, till one bright beam of light struck me from the heavens above and I remembered not to honk today. But I promptly forgot about it the very next moment when one !@#$*% guy on a flashy bike tried to do something stupid right in front of my Activa. A loud honk to express my annoyance and a dirty look and I sped away. And then again I felt guilty. So, typical of all p(r)etty criminals, I started noticing how many of us were actually following the "rule of the day". Funnily, no one was !
Its really not surprising. Let me elaborate.
1. We as Ahmedabadis are very honk friendly. We have a special honk for every need. We have a style to express annoyance, and one to express anger, and yet another one to just say hi to closest rider. And yet another one to flirt with the next rider. And still another one to just show happiness. And the list just doesnt end. Honking to us is what the status message on GTalk is to most chat addict friends of mine. And now you ask us not to honk !!! :-O We'd rather stay at home than be on the road and not honk!
2. The "no horn day" was really not publicised well. I mean, usually, the radio is full of it and all leading dailies start talking about it atleast a week in advance. I open the paper today to see which politician called who what (as a side note, if you are looking to learn "colored words" do read these political articles) and I see a small note saying "Please refrain from honking today. We are observing No Horn Day". Man! You think I am going to remember this? Specially after it was you who made me dependent on your repeated reminders about something which is going to happen 2 months later!
So, all in all, the "no honk day" was as good as a "more honk day". Such initiatives are good, but they serve no purpose if observed only for a day. I dont know what was the intention behind this particular "Day" but if it was educating people about noise pollution and encouraging them not to honk so much, it fell flat on its face. Instead of just simply observing "days" we should make short long term plans and try and create incentives for people so that they follow the Day 365 days a year !
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Dear Mustard,
ReplyDeleteI suggest you lose no minute in filing a patent!!
From http://www.gnrtr.com/Generator.html?pi=65&cp=3
"Toyota specialists believe that swearing, signaling and sawing the air are unbecoming of drivers. And the company received a US patent for a car which gives its owner other methods of self-expression."
Godspeed! :p