ASAP In Eternal Time

A few seconds for one can be a lifetime for another

- Devdutt Pattanaik

ASAP is a popular acronym for 'as soon as possible'. But more often than not it is used to mean 'immediately' in corporate circles. In political, bureaucratic and judicial circles, it depends on the relationship of the beneficiary and the benefactor. If the beneficiary is powerful, then ASAP means traffic lights are stopped to get to the meeting, files are passed quickly, the judgment is given at midnight. If the beneficiary is powerless, then ASAP means you wait endlessly for the appointment, the file gathers dust, and the wheels of justice grind slowly.

That Hinduism is increasingly referred to as Sanatan Dharma or Eternal Code of Conduct reveals the value placed on eternity, a concept of time without endings, without deadlines, without full stops. Time is clearly a fluid concept, moving fast when you are happy and slow when you are sad. Timelines, timetables and appointments are a function not of what is to be done, rather who it involves.