One element, one unit that envelopes all humans
across the world is "TIME". We talk, act, behave and live under the
grand influence of time, don't we? In a very philosophical way, we may say time
is the only resource we all have and we all spend. So it makes
a lot of sense that we spend it wisely as time is limited, isn’t it?
Let us delve into the question ‘What
is time?’ It is probably what we keep a watch on in our clocks and gadgets, isn’t
it? Wake up at 6:00 am, get ready by 7:00, breakfast by 8:00, reach office by
9:00 and the day goes on according to the timetable. Days begin and end, dates
change, months and years follow and time continues to fly. Few days back we
were celebrating new years and here we are almost half a year ahead. No wonder
they say ‘Time Flies’. So is time limited to that time piece called
clock? There must be more so let’s explore.
What if one completely removes the
clock from the equation. Then we will be left with day and night or more precisely,
morning, afternoon, evening and night. This means we try to divide time of the
day according to the position of the sun, don’t we? But time is surely much
more than just division of a day. We have all come across various time related
idioms and proverbs like ‘Time flies’, ‘Time heals’, ‘Time is money’, ‘Give
him some time’, ‘Time and tide wit for none’ and the list goes on and on…
In my understanding time is one of
the strongest, most efficient equalisers. I feel time is a representative of
the superpower – God. Time always was, is and will be. We all have time
but it is limited. We have the same number of hours in a day, irrespective of
gender, economic status, religion, caste or what have you. A day is only 24
hours long, a year is 365 days and ultimately life does come to an end which
means ‘Time over – Game over’. We are born and we have time until we
die.
Some of us constantly threaten
ourselves with death and therefore try and use all the time we have constantly
working, amassing wealth and postponing things that we really should do to
another day. We only do the urgent things like answering work calls, replying to
work related messages, dong things that are economically and financially
important or lucrative. We procrastinate the important things like spending
time with family, resting, thinking, playing, being joyful. We call ourselves
workaholics and feel great pride in the same. But this is where we must
understand that it is necessary to take a break before we breakdown.
Taking a break is also great way of utilising
time. It is a probably a very efficient way to spend time. A good break only
enhances your perspective, creativity and effectiveness. There’s nothing wrong
in taking a break as long as one realises that a break is all about being
active in some other, constructive, joyful manner.
On the other hand, we have people
who lead a life as if it is unlimited for them. They waste and while away time
in useless, unproductive activities without realising what they actually lose. Time
is probably the most perishable resource we have which once wasted and gone
never returns. And yet we have people around us who show utter disrespect
towards this representative of the superpower. Such people realise the
significance of time they have lost in their time of struggle, misfortune or
what we call ‘bad time’. This brings us to the point where we come across the categorisation
of time as ‘Good time and Bad time’. We had somebody known as the ‘King of Good
times’, remember?
Can time be good or bad? Does time
have the capacity to appreciate or punish individuals? The answer is quite
simple – YES. The most powerful empires have succumbed to the wrath of time, haven’t
they? Time is all pervasive and powerful. It is limited for one and all. Everyone
experiences good time as well as bad. Therefore it would be fair to say that “Time
is the ultimate equaliser”.
