REMEMBER all those phrases like ‘Time flies’; ‘Time is money’; ‘Timing is everything’; ‘Lost time will never return’ and so on. Most of us Pakistanis have thrown all these and other phrases that have anything to do with TIME, out of the window, out of the system and out of our life.
We, as Muslims, subscribe to five prayers a day. And guess what? There are set times for them. There is also a month allocated for fasting; times set for starting and breaking the fast. There is just no other way about it.
One of my nieces has to catch the school-bus at 8 in the morning every day. But she is never on time. However the bus driver, who I assume is not even a college graduate, is always on time. Every day the girl’s mother has to ask the driver to wait for her daughter. At times there is so much commotion that it seems the mother would go on the bus to the school instead of the daughter. But rain or shine, my niece would be late for the bus.
But the story doesn’t end there. These days I am making rounds of offices and any place I go for an interview, I have to wait for the sahib because either he is not in or he is in a meeting. At one time I was asked to report at over 6 PM but the sahib was in a meeting. After repeated reminders I was finally asked, at 10.00 PM that my meeting had been rescheduled. To this, I replied, “Please don’t call me, I’ll call you”. No wonder I am still looking.
When I am on the road it feels as if everyone is in a rush. The traffic snarls and gets clogged at places. Cars whiz by you, minibuses try to ran over you, busses intimidate you, rickshaws fly by you, motorcyclists with a wife and three kids on board cut in front of you, truckers raise hell with their pressure horns and of course Sahib’s driver tail gates your car to harass you. But still, by some miracle, everyone is late for destination. The traffic cops seem helpless to control the mess. They are more dubiously interested in checking the papers.
For the past month or so, the wedding season was in high gear. I was invited to one and so I went to just ONE. My guilt for arriving there late at 9:15 PM immediately disappeared when to my surprise I discovered I was the first one there. I checked on the invitation card for the right place, the right people, right time and right date. Finally at around 10:00 PM some familiar faces showed up, but still no sign of the host family. It was around 11 that the bride and her family showed up and a little later the groom’s party arrived. Then we waited for the Qazi, someone was sent to fetch him. It was not before 00:30 AM, next day that I got through the wedding party and gave my superfluous blessings to the bride and the groom.
The bottom line is that we ,as a nation, don’t bother about time and its importance. If we quantify time, we could survive and prosper economically in this ever-shrinking world. If we lead a disciplined life we will have plenty of time to get our work done. We will have time left for our family, and loved ones. And when we spend time with our kids we can also teach them the importance of time.
Remember, every person of a society brings the training and nurturing he or she gets from home. And we need to work on this. We have to economize our time. And when we get into the habit of doing so, it would in turn make us responsible citizens of this country. We expect others to follow time, but charity begins from home.
In business school we were taught that timing is every thing. No wonder corporations have full-time staff for planning. These folks make yearly plans, five-yearly plans. And if the environment changes, they do the exercise again. Take a decision on time, albeit may be wrong. You can always go back and correct it. Timing is every thing in business world. Time was of the essence for all successful US corporations. It was the training these people got in utilizing their time in a constructive manner that names like Microsoft and General Motors became industry giants.
I firmly believe that when you are trained in doing things innately in a right way you will succeed no matter what comes your way. Time is a commodity anyone can easily afford. But use it judiciously. Above all, it was taught by our faith to follow time. Sadly, none of our so-called Ulemas preach on the importance of time.
REMEMBER all those phrases like ‘Time flies’; ‘Time is money’; ‘Timing is everything’; ‘Lost time will never return’ and so on. Most of us Pakistanis have thrown all these and other phrases that have anything to do with TIME, out of the window, out of the system and out of our life.
