Horn Ok Please

My feeling is that the Indian motorist's use of the horn, like the Indian headwaggle, has certain rules of usage, but these rules are not the sort of rules that western minds are accustomed to (see Wittgenstein and Bourdieu). Despite this feeling, here is my attempt at interpretation.

The head waggle means neither yes nor no; it means 'I understand what you're saying'. So if you say 'Deccan Corner' to a rickshaw walla and he gives you a headwaggle, climb in. If you say 'Do you know where Deccan Corner is?' and get a headwaggle, change your question.

Shortly after I began cycling in Pune, it became apparent that Indian motorists do not, in fact, honk their horn a) continuously or b) whenever the hell they feel like it. Neither do they do it just to say hello, as someone suggested to me. Rather, the horn has a very precise meaning: 'I'm about to do something really quite dangerous, so be aware of my presence and don't hold me responsible if one of us winds up dead, because I did warn you'. The horn is necessary, I presume, because Indian motorists keep their eyes on the road ahead, or rather on the next motorist, who is invariably so close you can see the whites of his eyes even though he's looking the other way. Without the horn, they would have no idea what is just behind them or to their side, and might be tempted to brake or swerve into a space that isn't there. The horn is necessary because it is the only rule of the road they've got. Thus the mantra 'Horn Ok Please' is emblazoned on the back of every truck, just in case anyone should forget.

Sorry if this all sounds like I've spent too long thinking about it. I clearly have. But what made me think about it was the fact that no Indian I have spoken to has been able to explain these things to me; they're just things Indians do without thinking.

Hence Wittgenstein (and Bourdieu). Mwah.