Timepass is Indian English. The Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries define it as “helping somebody to pass the time, especially doing something that has no aim or is not very useful.” Their example: “It’s a good timepass film.”
Twenty Hours in the Queue
At Tirumala, pilgrims who come for the general darshan of Lord Venkateswara, the Sarvadarshanam, wait in the Vaikuntam Queue Complex, “a series of inter-connected halls that leads to the main temple.” The temple trust gives the waiting time as about 18 hours on normal days and about 20 hours on peak days. The halls provide food, milk, tea, medical help and toilets.
On May 26, 2024, The Hans India reported that every compartment was full and that “the wait time to see Srivari is a staggering 20 hours.”
The Guest Without a Date
Atithi is the Sanskrit word for a guest. Sanskrit Magazine gives its original meaning as “without a fixed calendrical time.” The Purankosh describes the atithi as “the one who arrives without prior intimation, observing no particular or suitable date.”
The ancient etymologist Yaska traced the word to a different root, at, which suggests constant movement.
Days and Nights of Leisure
Ji dhoondta hai phir vahi fursat ki raat din, baithe rahen tasavvur-e-jaanaan kiye hue. The heart seeks again those days and nights of leisure, to sit lost in thoughts of the beloved. The couplet is from a ghazal by Mirza Ghalib.
Fursat means leisure or spare time, according to the Rekhta dictionary. Rekhta also notes that Gulzar used the line in his film Mausam (1975), in the song “Dil Dhoondta Hai.”
Gates Close at Ten
In the 2026 board exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education, for classes 10 and 12, the gates of the exam centers close at 10 a.m. The exam starts at 10:30, with reading time from 10:15. “No student will be permitted to enter the examination center beyond this cut-off,” PW News reported.
Seventeen Minutes Late
In June 2024 a candidate for the UPSC civil services preliminary exam arrived at a center in Sector 47, Gurugram, at 9:17 a.m. The exam began at 9:30. The candidate was not let in. A video of the candidate’s parents weeping at the gate spread widely online. “The gate was closed at 9:00 am but the examinee reached at 9:17 am,” the school’s principal said.
Around 18:04
“Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the Moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 Hrs. IST,” The Quint reported, following ISRO’s announcement. Live coverage was to begin at 17:27 on ISRO’s website, YouTube, Facebook and DD National. ISRO asked schools and institutions to show the landing to their students live.
The Night Shift
In 2004 the trade magazine Voice&Data described a basic fact of the call center business. Because of the time difference with the United States, “international call centers have to operate at night in India.” Staffing follows the calling patterns of American customers. The night shift brings its own costs, such as late-night transport, cafeterias and higher staff turnover.
In 2022 Telangana Today reported that major IT companies in Hyderabad pay a night shift allowance of 300 to 400 rupees a night.
Sunday Morning
Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan ran on Doordarshan from January 25, 1987, to July 31, 1988. A new episode premiered at 9:30 every Sunday morning. “Streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began,” the BBC recalled.
A Sense of Time
Gandhi told his grandson Kantilal: “Don’t keep a watch unless you have a sense of time.” The story is told by Rashmi-Sudha Puri of the Gandhi Bhavan at Punjab University. Gandhi’s associate Nirmal Kumar Bose recalled that Gandhi kept his pocket watch, with its alarm set for 4 a.m., under his pillow.
On January 30, 1948, the day he was killed, Abha said to him: “Bapu, your watch must be feeling very neglected, you did not even look at it today!”