On social-media, a friend, an Indian, now settled in UK  commented  “For Indians the mode of transport is a status symbol. When my uncle became a Sub-Lieutenant  from a Naval rating, the first thing he did was replace push bike for a scooter. In U.K. I have seen Lord Chancellor Hailsham and Prime Minister David Cameron riding bike to the Parliament.”

Indians carry the very same attitude it to the North American shores too – all riding BMW/ Mercedes/ Audi. You will hardly find Indians driving any other brand – even if their salaries are meager.

One Sunday, at the Malayalam Syrian Orthodox Church in Canada, a man told me “Why are you driving on a Honda? You can easily afford a BMW!“

“I’m comfortable driving a Honda, Why invest so much in a BMW?  The gasoline needed is the higher grade which is costlier and the cost of maintenance too is high,” I replied.

I was taken aback by his reply “If you want people to respect you in this church, then you must drive a BMW.“

Remember – Jesus went to the church riding a poor donkey!!! No one should have valued him then!!!!

I said “My ‘VETERAN’ license plate is much more valuable than your BMW. There is many BMWs in the parking lot. Show me another car with a Veteran plate???”

The Veteran Licence plate is available to those who have honourably served in in the Canadian Armed Forces, including Reserve Forces, the forces of the Commonwealth, or its wartime allies. Indian Army Veterans too fall in this category. Indian Army fought the two World Wars alongside the Canadians as part of the Commonwealth and they respect that association.

Canada values Veterans’ contribution, dedication and commitment to serving and protecting our country. The licence plate features a Red Poppy with the word ‘VETERAN.’ The poppy has been a symbol of those who died while fighting for peace since it was first distributed in Canada in 1921. The plate can only be used by the veteran and is non-transferable. In demise of the Veteran, the plate can be held by the family as a souvenir.

Veteran licence plate holders can park for free at on-street metered parking spaces and in municipal paid parking lots in many municipalities. Some parking lots have parking spaces earmarked for Veterans.

In Ontario province of Canada, a regular car licence plate consists of four alphabets and three digits with a crown in between. One can choose to include graphics such as the loon, a trillium, or the logo of your favourite professional sports team, community organisation or university on your personalised licence plate. A personalised licence plate or a Vanity Plate may contain 2 to 8 characters (letters and/or numbers) without a graphic and with a graphic, the maximum is six characters. Thus a personalised licence plate for a veteran can have only six characters as the Red Poppy graphic is to be placed. Offensive meanings or derogatory, profane, racist, sexual, religious, as well as references to a variety of subjects, drugs and alcohol, political opinions, criminal activity, etc are considered objectionable.