Hyderabad

On the way to lunch, I heard it again in another part of the city, in the middle of the day. “Ooo-hark, ooo-hark, ooo-hark.” “What kind of animal is that?” I asked my colleague Natraj who reacted with a mixture of bewilderment and childlike mirth. “That’s not an animal, man,” Natraj replied, “That’s the warning signal when a car is reversing.” And in fact a car was backing up to park right in front of us.

I had never noticed the warning signal before. Hyderabad is simply too loud in the daytime. Honking cars, people shouting, cows mooing, rushing buses. “We have this signal in our cars because no one pays attention when driving in reverse,” Natraj said. Of course, it’s not much use. The mating call of the cars backing up is simply drowned out by the noise. It is only at night that it can be heard.

In the meantime I’ve learned that the signal is also available with various melodies. “Jingle Bells,” for example. What I haven’t heard yet is “Highway to Hell.” That ought to be offered here as the standard warning signal.