Missed Trains & Holy Delays
I was watching clips from the Bollywood blockbuster Jab We Met. I had seen the film umpteen times, and I’m sure I will watch it again. The story of Jab We Met is a riot of emotions. It deals with the chemistry between a despondent man and a talkative woman who misses her train. After jilted lovers, parted ways and drastic personality changes, the two get united in true Bollywood love. One particular dialogue from the film caught my attention — I always had this nightmare, I am running. The train is going, and I miss it.
Sharing stories of missed trains and buses is a common occurrence in social gatherings, especially when relatives come from far off towns. Someone would have fallen asleep, misread the train timings, gotten to the wrong bus stop, failed to find an auto or something like that. No one would ever miss a train due to pointless bargaining though. That unrealistic possibility was reserved for the script of Jab We Met to take up.
Nonetheless, the entire ordeal from the missing a train to last-minute correctional plans makes a good family-friendly horror story. The takeaway of these tales is always precautional — don’t be irresponsible, don’t be late.
Interestingly, Indian mythology also has some instances of impunctuality. In one, Parashurama decided to give away all his wealth. Dronacharya was late for the free giveaway. All of Parashurama’s wealth had already been exhausted by then. But Dronacharya didn’t leave empty-handed. Parashurama gives his greatest wealth i.e., the knowledge of weapons to Dronacharya. Then, Dronacharya goes on to become the royal instructor of the Kuru princes. Incidentally, in the Ramayana, Sumitra was late to King Dasharatha’s yagna to beget children. The delay made Sumitra get a smaller portion of the prasadam. In either case, impunctuality was satisfactorily resolved. It was not a criminal offence. Except of course when it comes to muhurtas!
There is a concept of sacred time in India i.e., a Muhurta. An hour so holy that even the ordinary can turn auspicious. Missing the muhurta is an unthinkable offence. This Tamil advertisement of NAC Jewellers by captures this sentiment pretty well. Despite being awed, the mother is unable to praise her daughter’s beauty. The reason — the wedding muhurta is in session, and her daughter is late!
NAC Jewellers Presents: Muhurtham Collection — YouTube
But does one ever manage to miss the muhurta?
Apparently Yes.
In the Legend of Pushkar Temple, Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, was late to the pooja of her husband, the creator-God Brahma. It was never fashionable to be late, but perhaps is it divine to delay? After all, even the gods are not exempt from humane impunctuality.
I opine muhurta and trains schedules hold comparable positions in the Indian psyche. Both are determined by external forces. And both involve some kind of baggage — physical or cultural. Yet the popular opinions claim Indians are always in a hurry, but never on time. When planning for an outing, it is very natural to have a 30-minute leeway.
“We’ll leave at like 10–10:30am?”
“I should come by 7–7:30 pm”
That hazy half hour is the infamous IST. Originally, IST stands for Indian Standard Time. But IST is joked to be the Indian Standard-Waiting Time — an attempt to legitimise the possibility of delays. This comical behaviour is neatly summarised through Rama Bijapurkar’s book title — We are like that only!
