Why is “Horn OK Please” painted on the back of almost every truck in India?
“Horn Please” is written on the back so of many vehicles (especially the heavy carriers) so that the lighter and faster vehicles that are behind them can just honk them as an indication before the overtake.
The honking by vehicle at back makes the driver of the vehicle in front alert and they make way for the vehicles to pass them either by reducing the speed of their own vehicle or signaling (with hand gestures/by blinking back panel lamps) that they can now overtake them.
“OK” originally meant “On Kerosene.” It has its origins in the era of the second world war. The trucks which used to carry the soldiers, supplies, etc., used kerosene and hence it would be mentioned on the back “Horn Please (On Kerosene),” maybe just to make the drivers behind a bit cautious and aware of the situation before overtaking. After the British Raj the practice stayed in India, without even trying to understand what was it all about.
As the trucks in India are painted by the amateur truck painters, who are in general illiterate or ignorant, they continue the tradition of painting “OK” term as if it is integral to “Horn Please” and without it the sentence or phrase is incomplete! That’s why it is still there.
And even if some realize the term’s insignificance, the practice has been rampanr from so long that it has become a norm and cult of sorts! Some even paint it as a style statement or to indicate the recognition of this cult.
