Minutes that Matter

About being on time

For us Indians punctuality is an acquired habit. Generally we are quite happy to be vague about the minutes. Perhaps this is got to do with our ancestors who worked by the movement of Sun and Moon and not digital time machines.
At about four can mean anytime between four and six.
In a week's time, definitely means not less than 15 days.
I will send the mechanic just now..means today....maybe
At one time I had a major problem with being on time.

Then I met this amazing lady, a math teacher called Leela. She later became a good friend of mine.
But a math teacher set me ticking...err pun intended!
‘How do people become late? If you need to be ready at 8, you just are…right?’ she had said in genuine wonder. And I turned hot under the collar (actually I was in a saree…so no collar to hide that hotness!!!) as I had checked-in 15 minutes late.

But that set me thinking.
But how to be on time, every time? I asked her.
She looked at me like I was pulling her leg. Then she figured that my question was for real.
Let’s say…she began, in true math teacher style!
I need to leave for work at 8.30
I have 3 lunches to pack, breakfast to be done, a cheque to be written, and a call to be made.
I give myself 2 hours to get all this done. Bath and personal details would require 20 minutes. I keep aside 10 minutes for interventions. That means I need two hours thirty minutes to be ready at 8.30
So I begin work at 6.30.

I was not convinced. What if the newspaper is interesting? What if Sudoku takes longer than 5 minutes to solve? What if I got up late? What if…
She interrupted me with a wan smile...Basically if being on the dot matters to you, you will be ready on the dot! Maybe you don’t mind being late. She finished, in her typically no nonsense wisdom. And I almost hated her.

Now
When guests for dinner tell me, ‘we will reach by seven, seven-thirty’… It is really OK. I am at home. Dinner is ready. Vagueness with time does not alarm me. But the other day, we were to meet friends at the Lodhi Garden. ‘Aaan! We will be there by ten, ten-thirty’ he said shaking his head in confirmation.
Now what does that mean Ten? or Ten Thirty? Imagine waiting at Lodhi Garden for half an hour. I told him, we will be there at ten past ten, you please be there at the same time.
And believe me we cruised into the parking lot at almost the same moment…they were in an auto and we in our car. The day was good and we really had fun exploring Delhi.

I don’t understand people who say - I don’t use a wristwatch. I am not bound by time. And to top it all they are perpetually late for everything. You know … Kind of huffing and puffing through the day. With the world on my shoulders kind of look!!
I think of Leela again. What is amazing is that her logic does work.
• Being punctual is a habit.
• Being late is a habit.
We need to decide which habit we want to adopt.



MG road, Bengaluru
How to be on time every time?