Horn OK Please
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'Horn OK please' is a de facto phrase very commonly painted on the vehicles in India. This is spotted almost without exception on the commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses local taxis. However this is not common on the private vehicles.
The very essence of the phrase is to alert the driver of the following vehicle to blow horn. That’s when the following vehicle wants to overtake or pass the preceding vehicle. In other words it’s a simple suggestion of – Horn please.
The origin of this phrase is unknown. Also this is not of any official significance with respect to traffic regulations. No rules in India mandate or suggest the use of such a ‘slogan’ on a vehicle. Still tens of thousands of vehicles are decorated with the phrase Horn OK please. Invariably this is positioned at the rear of the vehicle.
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[edit] usage
As state above, Horn OK Please today refers to a request to overtakers to honk first to let the driver of the truck know that she or he is about to make an overtaking attempt. This exists for many safety reasons. Because of the length of the truck, the driver of the truck will be able to better judge than the driver of the vehicle behind whether it is safe to overtake or not. If it is safe, after receiving the intimation, the truck driver can give an 'all clear' signal to the driver behind, or as him or her to hang on for a while as there is oncoming traffic.
[edit] genesis of the phrase
Probably because of the usage of English in India (the Indian English) the phrase Horn please has metamorphed into a more colloquial Horn OK Please.
One of the reasons "Horn Please" has morphed into "Horn OK Please" is because of the space constraints on the vehicle's rear - where the phrase is written. Horn is written on the left side while Please on the right. As the central space remains empty, it used to be filled with words like OK, Tata (engine manufaturer). As OK fits well, the phrase stuck and caught on.
The OK got pasted in the middle because TATA, the largest manufacturer of trucks in India for a very very long time, made this 'brand' of trucks named OK. Of course, this was during a comparatively primitive economy, so nobody cared about brands too much then, but because the Tata trucks were so widespread, you'd see OK on almost every other truck!
[edit] similar phenomena
[edit] "Awaaz Do"
Another addition to the "Horn OK Please" syndrome is the "Awaaz Do" words written at the back of trucks and tempos. This has been noticed for quite some time but is not as widely popular with the truckers as "Horn OK Please". "Awaaz" means Voice and "Do" means Give, so apparently the truck driver wants to convey that he is requesting overtaking vehicles to sound their horn or give a signal before passing.
This alternative to the widely popular and incredibly famous "Horn OK Please" could have been used by the truckers to separate themselves from rival Truckers Union; though that is speculative. "Horn OK Please" is definitely more recognisable and keeps getting more patronage.
[edit] "Mera Bharat Mahan"
"Mera Bharat Mahan" literally means "My India is Great". This is said to have been started as a campaign for National integration and creating patriotic enthusiasm in citizens. Widely seen along with "Horn OK Please" the small patriotic slogan appears mostly in the middle part of the truck's rear end (near the OK) in red colour or using one of the three colours of the Indian flag for each word.
There is definite logic for it to work since the trucks ply across States, through Highways and also within congested city roads. Looking at these road hogging vehicles rear end, the "Horn OK Please" and "Mera Bharat Mahan" does look amusing with its rustic charm.
[edit] Horn Please
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