I know we always talk about it, behind the walls sometimes, sometimes behind the backs. But I think the phenomenon is ‘global’ enough now that we need to come out of the closet.
What’s up with Desi timing habits? Whether it’s a wedding ceremony or a funeral or simply a potluck get-together, the stereotype is that we Desis are never on time. If the party starts at 6pm, you actually start getting ready at 6pm and arrive at the place at slightly over 8pm.
Even though the savvy hosts have counter acted many times by giving a two hour earlier time for the occasion, thinking that the guests will make it at the actual time they want them to be (oh, silly them), the strategy has always been completely ‘sabotaged’ by increasing two more hours from the ‘opposite side’.
As a matter of fact, it seems to me that the guests have developed this sort of intuition or instinct in knowing what’s the appropriate time to show up. It reminds me of mother cooking. No matter for how many people she would be cooking for, she would never measure the ingredient like masala, mirch, salt etc. It would always be guesswork, and it would always be right on the money.
I can visualize our folks deciding on what time to show up. “Hmmm, the party starts at 4pm, ok, I’ll get up at 6, take the shower, iron the clothes, and it’s only 1/2 hour drive so I’d be there on time, nobody else is gonna show up at 4 anyway”.
I think that not only it has to do with what we are used to (in general) but also that we ignore certain parameters when we decide to go somewhere and be there on time. These parameters could be:
1- We don’t take into account the distance and traffic situation at the time we are planning on deriving.
2- We have a very rough estimate about every single preparation activity when we plan. For example, you would think that it will take you 15 minutes to iron the clothes, but you completely forgot that you haven’t picked the clothes yet you are going to wear. Depending on which specific gender you belong to, this itself can take from 15 minutes to an hour (In my particular case it would 1 1/2 hour since I would have to do the laundry first).
3- We always forget that we are going to forget where we put the keys for the car last time.
4- There are always some leftovers around in the kitchen that are needed to be refrigerated before leaving (In my particular case, I would take additional 15 minutes to decide whether I should put them in refrigerator or throw them in the garbage altogether).
5- After you have found the keys, you need to find your wallet.
Add few more of such factors and you get the picture.
In West, they say time is money. We love money but we don’t care about time, and we are so lucky that we are still getting away with it.