Time is an illusion. The distinction between the past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. (Albert Einstein). That's a philosophical way to look at time from the relativistic perspective. For us humans who interact with other species on this Earth, that statement may not find much value. At least not on a day to day basis, especially when you are a student and expected to come to class on time; attend your work at the workplace by punching your card; or take a flight or train. Then the concept of time is the same across all the people who matter. We would look foolish if we were to quote Einstein to the person at the check in counter. She is likely to just point us towards the window to show our aircraft pulling out of the gate and say, "Well, that is the illusion of time for you".
Long ago, probably about 42 years ago, when I was in National
Productivity Council posted to Hyderabad (this office was opened only
about 1 or 2 years ago), our Director had come from Chennai to meet some
industry heads looking for some assignments - consultancy or training. I
was a junior and was with a senior consultant from Hyderabad office. We
were waiting in the reception area since the Factory Manager was on his
'rounds'. We had already fixed up an appointment with his secretary. We
waited for about an hour, but the Factory Manager was still on his
rounds. We enquired if he would meet us. I was getting impatient and so
was my colleague. However, the Director from Chennai was quite unmoved.
He said we had gone there for seeking some work and the Factory Manager
was not obliged to meet us as much as we were in need of meeting him and
convincing him to give us some work! Patience.
Japanese are sticklers for punctuality and it is not a tall tale that the Japanese trains are known to be so punctual that you can set your watch by the train pulling into the station or pulling out of it. It takes a lot of effort for all concerned to be able to ensure these levels of punctuality and precision. We Indians are known to stick to IST (some derisively say that it stands for Indian Stretchable Time) and our clocks are not aligned with one another. Take the case of the three clocks in our home. At the moment each clock is showing the following time:
How can I expect to stick to time with these clocks in our house. I do try and set them all to show one time, and I do this once in a while, but I think my clocks are inspired by some as yet unknown phenomena. The clock in this room sits on top of my professional book shelf that contains books on Quality and Six Sigma in addition to a few on management. The one in the hall is probably showing the correct time for the guests to know when they should depart for their home, especially since they shouldn't be blaming me for some problem that they may face if they went late or early from my home! The clock in my bedroom sits on the bookshelf containing fiction, some science fiction, and some history books too thrown in. I am sure that clock is influenced by Einstein and that is why it is running slow. The matter of when I bought that clock, and whether it is digital or analog; whether it is a reputed brand or a local clock is just nitpicking. I am convinced that Einstein has played a part in clocks in different rooms showing different time.
Look at the traffic scene in some major metros in India. There have been newspaper articles and messages on X mentioning in particular about Bengaluru that it has taken some people about 2 hours to travel a distance that should only take 15 minutes. Let us put ourselves in the shoes of one of the drivers in a car in that traffic in Bangalore. S/he has been at the same place on the road for a good 15 minutes. That is 15 minutes for me sitting in Chennai at home; but for them in the car in Bengaluru time and space have stood still. No wonder Bengaluru is the 'science capital of India'.
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