Indian Stretchable Time

The bane of many businesses in India is the inherent ability to disregard punctuality and time. Indian Standard Time is therefore aptly altered to ‘Indian Stretchable Time’.

The philosophy of time in India comes from the Kalachakra, or ‘the wheel of time’. Time is not linear, but cyclical, an ongoing process of life and death. The past, present and future exist simultaneously.

Perhaps sub-consciously, this is why we believe delays will not alter the course of our existence!

Hindu mythology also says what makes time change qualitatively, is attention. When you are concentrating and having a good time, time contracts and passes fast. When you are not, time expands and moves slowly.

Time is constantly contracting and expanding at the workplace. When employees are having a slow day, they wait eagerly for lunchtime. When absorbed in their work, they forget the lunch break! This is a great way to understand organizational culture.