With the entreaty to horn gone in Maharashtra, will horners stop horning?

The Maharashtra authorities' decision to crack down on noise pollution by banning ' Horn OK Please' — that familiar rear-end entreaty on large transport vehicles — bespeaks a surprising, if somewhat touching, faith in the average Indian's propensity to follow instructions. We desis flout other civic norms, from littering and spitting to not lane driving, with considerable insouciance and lack of guilt. So, it is surprising that the state government believes that excessive 'horning' is due to diligent motorists heeding the exhortations exuberantly painted on most subcontinental trucks. But if reduced decibel levels back the transport department's confidence on compliance, perhaps all state governments can try substituting ' Horn OK Please' with more important public service messages in the hope of similar results.

If indeed such slogans are gospel to all those who see them, a detailed scrutiny of all such notings is necessary. Prima facie, some may even see reason enough to proclaim another popular truck articulation predicting a blackened face for evil eye-casters — Buri nazar wale, tera muh kala — to be an instigation to superstition and ban that too. However, a new glossary of acceptable messages should also be offered to truck owners, and decorators, if only to save an indigenous art form and give road users some interesting things to read.