A matter of Time

Time!

October, I was in warm western Goa, with family on a holiday. One evening my little one sobbed as it was already evening and the sun, the horrible sun had set into a cloudy haze in the horizon over the Arabian Sea. When all our endeavours at explaining that the day was over bounced off his exhausted brain, his sis intervened with that special magical gift of hers! She soothed him and said "If the sun doesn't go from here, how will be day in other places, where other kids would also want to play at the beach?" The logic was too strong for him to resist and he finally bid a happy farewell to the setting sun.

November, I was in the North East, though the eastern most part of my trip was Kaziranga (not Mizoram!) It was one month further into the winter, we WERE in the East, but hey, it was so unfair! By 4 pm, it was DARK. By 5, the stars used to be out and I did feel lost and deprived like my little boy!

How unfair it is that across the width of our country we have but 1 Indian Standard Time! Its drawback has been pointed out but for some silly (sentimental?) reason, we equate the time in Arunachal Pradesh with Kutchh. It is another matter though that our management of time has always tended to be loose and elastic.
Meanwhile, who better than Browning to sum it up for me:
There may be heaven; there must be hell;Meantime, there is our earth here--well!