The Quorum Bell

Under Article 100(3) of the Constitution, the quorum of each House of Parliament “shall be one-tenth of the total number of members of the House.” In the Lok Sabha that means 55 members. When too few are present, the quorum bell is rung.

In February 2023, after a speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for lack of quorum. The Wire reported that the floor managers “were unable to gather 55 MPs” even after the Speaker had the bell rung.

Half an Hour

Section 103(2) of the Companies Act of 2013 opens with these words: “If the quorum is not present within half-an-hour from the time appointed for holding a meeting of the company.” In that case the meeting is adjourned to the same day in the next week, at the same time and place, unless the board decides otherwise.

A shareholders’ meeting called for 11 a.m. can therefore still begin at 11:29, once a quorum is present.

The Drums at Dusk

A Kathakali performance in Kerala is announced by drums. In the Kelikottu, drums and cymbals are played at about 6 p.m. to announce the performance of the evening. The play itself starts later, often between 9 and 10 p.m.

Traditionally, a performance starts at dusk and continues through dawn, with breaks for the performers and the audience. Some plays ran over several nights.

We Have Been Waiting Since Morning

On December 9, 2025, students in Chandla, in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, were called to a sports ground at about 9 or 10 a.m. for a Sansad Khel Mahotsav, a sports festival. The program formally began near 3 p.m., when the chief guest arrived. He was V.D. Sharma, a BJP member of Parliament.

A girl player told him: Namaste to theek hai, lekin hum subah se intezaar kar rahe hain, kya hamare paas itna faltu time hai? Greetings are fine, but we have been waiting since morning. Do we have so much spare time?

Sharma smiled. He said the organizers had given him a 2 p.m. slot.

Stalling for the Minister

In January 2015 a Business Standard column described a gathering of a traders’ society in Kolkata. The audience was waiting for the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley. Siddharth Nath Singh, a national secretary of the BJP, was asked to keep the audience occupied, and he spoke until Jaitley arrived.

The Lamp Was Lit

The Star Nite Awards 2011 in Delhi honored resellers of information technology products. The event was set for 6:30 p.m. At 7 it was still nowhere near starting, because the invited sponsors and businessmen had not come. The chief guest, Shankar Aggarwal, an additional secretary in the Department of Information Technology, got up to leave. The organizers tried to calm him.

“The ceremonial lamp was lit 10 minutes later with many industry big shots still missing,” Open magazine reported.

When the Moon Is Seen

The official calendar of Andhra Pradesh set the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday of 2026 for Friday, March 20. On March 19, the government moved it to Saturday, March 21. The Shawwal crescent moon “was not sighted anywhere in the country,” the Deccan Chronicle reported.

A Day That Needs No Muhurat

Abujh muhurat is a day so auspicious that no auspicious moment needs to be calculated. Akshaya Tritiya is one. In April 2026 Navbharat Live wrote of it: Is din kisi shubh evam mangalik karyon ko karne ke liye muhurat dekhne ki zaroorat nahi hoti hai. On this day there is no need to look for a muhurat to do any auspicious work.

The Hour of the Raga

In Hindustani classical music, each raga has its samay, its time. Bhairav “is an early morning (pratham prahar) raag.” It is traditionally performed in the morning, and it also serves as the opening piece of a concert. Malkauns belongs to late night, from midnight to 3 a.m. The singer Pandit Jasraj described it as a raga “sung during small hours of the morning, just after midnight.”

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