Meetings Archives - Page 4 of 6 - understand-culture

Half a Day’s Leave

On November 21, 2014, the Department of Personnel and Training ordered an Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system for all central government offices. Offices in Delhi had until December 31, 2014. Offices elsewhere had until January 26, 2015.

Each late arrival would cost half a day of casual leave. Lateness of up to an hour, twice a month and for good reason, could be excused. A further order in June 2015 stated: “Habitual late attendance is viewed as conduct unbecoming of a Government servant.”

Prepone

Prepone: to move something to an earlier time than planned. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries list the word as Indian English.

Kal: yesterday, and also tomorrow. The Rekhta dictionary gives both meanings of the Hindi word, “the day that is coming” and “the day that has passed.”

Through the Night

On April 2, 2025, the Lok Sabha took up the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. It debated the bill for about twelve hours and passed it by 288 votes to 232 in the early hours of April 3.

The Rajya Sabha began its debate later that day. It voted at about 2:22 a.m. on April 4 and passed the bill by 128 votes to 95. Reports give the length of its debate as about twelve hours or more than fourteen.

Mentioning

In the Supreme Court, lawyers ask the Chief Justice in person to hear an urgent matter that is not on the day’s list. The practice is called oral mentioning. On November 24, 2025, Chief Justice Surya Kant said that, except in extraordinary circumstances, such requests should be made on a written slip. “The registry will take a call and list the matter,” he said.

An earlier Chief Justice, Sanjiv Khanna, had also stopped oral mentioning.

Speaking Time at the AGM

At the annual general meetings of Indian companies, shareholders take the floor to speak. Some companies set a time limit, but “shareholders are known to overshoot that quite often,” Business Standard wrote in 2015. At one Mahindra & Mahindra meeting, a shareholder suggested traffic lights to signal the limit. “Next you will propose electric shocks be given to those who don’t limit their speeches,” the chairman, Anand Mahindra, joked.

In a 2011 Business Standard report, the veteran observer Kisan Ratilal Choksey described the regulars as “professionals AGM-attendees.” Chairmen met them the day before the meeting.

Before Rahu Kaala

On March 6, 2026, Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented the state budget at 10:15 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. Rahu Kaala, a daily period of about ninety minutes that many regard as inauspicious, began at 10:30 that day.

He later said that his family and officials had advised him to avoid it. “I didn’t want to disappoint them or hurt their feelings,” he said. “This is the first time in my political career that I did so.” He added that he still does not believe in good or bad times.

No Agenda at Wuhan

On April 27 and 28, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in Wuhan for an informal summit. There was no agenda and no joint statement. The two leaders walked along East Lake, rode a houseboat and talked over tea. China’s ambassador to India said they spent nine hours together.

The talks between the delegations “went well beyond the budgeted time,” said India’s Foreign Secretary, Vijay Gokhale.

The One Who Runs About

Pairokaar: the person who follows up a matter on someone’s behalf. The Rekhta dictionary defines the word as one who watches over someone’s case and makes efforts for it, one who runs about for it. Its English gloss is a litigant’s agent in a lawsuit. Pairavi karna, Rekhta adds, means to represent someone in a lawsuit, to make an effort and to back someone.

Tea, Water and Betel

Chai-paani: tea and water. As slang, it means a bribe. The language course HindiPod101 lists it among the Hindi expressions used to ask for one.

Beeda uthana: to pick up the betel roll. It means to take on a difficult task. The Rekhta dictionary explains the custom behind it. When help was needed with a hard problem, a roll of betel leaf was set out, and the person who picked it up vowed to solve the problem.

Food Eaten with Love

In the Udyoga Parva of the Mahabharata, Krishna comes to Hastinapura as the envoy of the Pandavas. Duryodhana invites him to a feast. Krishna declines. “Envoys, O king, eat and accept worship only after the success of their missions,” he says, in the Ganguli translation.

Duryodhana presses him. Krishna answers: “One taketh another’s food when one is in distress. At present, however, O king, thou hast not inspired love in me by any act of thine.” He goes to the house of Vidura and eats there.