No Horn Please

With the New Year’s Day being observed as a ’No Honking Day’, would North Delhiites play it safe? North Delhiites are not happy at the recent decision of the Delhi Police to celebrate January 1 as ’No Honking Day.’ Now, you may call it a typical case of status deprivation to use the educational jargon. How can it be possible? They are, after all, governed by the seat of their pants. In other words, they believe in instincts rather than logic or knowledge. You may cavil at their impertinence in having their way, but do you have the right to grudge them their freedom of choice and expression? If they don’t honk, they won’t be able to avoid collateral damage on roads. In fact, foisting such facile justifications come easy to North Delhiites. Rash driving is their besetting sin. After all, when all you have is hammer, everything looks like a nail. The first day of New Year is all about whooping it up; after all it is not everyday that you get to celebrate this particular occasion!

"There is no denying the good intentions of the traffic police in declaring January 1 as a ’No Honking Day.’ No doubt, honking is a nuisance on Delhi’s roads. But while driving on the road, how can you do without honking? At times, pedestrians cross the roads dangerously without even looking properly at the speeding vehicles,’’ says Sanjay Kumar, a marketing executive from Pitampura.

For 26-year-old Mohit Chabra, working with a private firm, ’No Honking Day’ may upset his applecart. He cannot imagine life without honking. After all, in Delhi, the more expensive car you have, greater is the need to flaunt your importance and what better way to do this than by mindless honking? "I will definitely try to abide by the rule; but I don’t think it is going to make any difference to the attitude of an average North Delhiite.

There will be people who won’t be even aware of this rule. And, if caught, the violators won’t mind paying the fine.’’