The horn is a psychological device in Indian traffic. It’s there solely for the satisfaction of the user, and in that respect, greatly resembles that other wonderful human invention – the elevator button.
No matter how much you press the horn, it makes no difference to other drivers, pedestrians, hawkers, cows or anybody else who happens to be present on the road at that moment, for the sheer joy of it. There have been times when I’ve secretly wondered if perhaps the sound of my bike horn is audible only to me, like some kind of morbid dog-whistle. Perhaps the sound frequency of the said horn is simply too high for everyone else. Which is what has led me to propose the following hypothesis / law:
The Other Veda Law of Indian Traffic (variable): The volume and the frequency of honking is inversely proportional to the effect it actually has. Any assumption of a cause-and-effect relationship where the cause is a vehicle horn, is pure fallacy.
Comments