What Sachit Thinks

Why Do We Honk So Much? An Indian Obsession With the Horn Why Do We Honk So Much? I don’t have the first clue why we do it, but it is indeed a unique phenomenon. Maybe we think honking is our way of asserting the ‘right of way’, but I suspect there is something far more revealing behind it. The Airport Incident What really took the cake was an incident at the Delhi airport. The airplane had just reached its apron parking position, and we were being ferried to the terminal in a bus. The bus driver, however, was losing patience. An aircraft was crossing in front of us — slowly, deliberately, doing exactly what aircraft are meant to do. There was no traffic signal to wait for, no confusion about right of way. And yet, the driver began honking. At an airplane. Honking as Impatience, Not Communication That moment summed it all up. The horn was not being used as a warning. It was not a request. It was simply an expression of impatience —...

I wish I had written this just after the World Cup. The mind was in a happier frame of mind then. Oh how have the mighty fallen! The downfall has been as stunning as the rise. The analysis and dissection comes from any and every body. The one common thing I hear is there's too much cricket Indians play, and largely attributed to IPL. Is that the case? I'm still not sure about that one. If you look carefully at every current Test player, each has got a fair amount of rest between the IPL and the England series. Many skipped the West Indies tour, just to get themselves ready and fit. In my view, they took too much rest! I think cricket, like any other sport or skill, requires constant practice. If you're out for a period of time, rustiness sets in. Combine that with bad form and injury, matters only get worse. So it would have helped if players had not opted out of the WI tour. As an aside, I was in the US last month and was taken to a baseball game. While understa...