Last week I was getting ready to leave for work. My four year old wife while buttering the toasts suddenly said I saw you in my dream last night. Before I can gather my wits and think of a suitable reply she made a face and belted out the perfect rejoinder. Why do I even mention it? You never ever have time to see me in your dreams. As an anecdote it perfectly captures the state of our marriage and hopefully would bring a smile to all my friends who are happily married.

However the fact remains that I seem to lose all my recent jousts with Time. My whole body is being squashed to pulp by this relentless and unforgiving enemy. I am being outsmarted and maneuvered at every step. All my moves and tricks against him are not working at all. I seem to be running after him for eternity and still unable to catch up.

I am mind wrestling with Time from the moment I am awake each day. In fact I start with a handicap as my eyes open exactly 20 mins later than the time I set my alarm to. Still clueless on the reason for this. The answer probably lies with my rebellious body clock which cannot tolerate the intrusive nature of the mechanical one outside. Rush hour generally comprise of brushing your yellow teeth (no time to buy a whitener),gulping some hot beverage (half the time cannot tell whether it is tea, coffee or hot water), stashing some burnt toasts down the oesophagus, a mad rush to the loo and trying your best to beat the Guiness record of wearing all your clothes in the least possible time. At the end of that you are ready to take off. Ready. Steady.Go.

The actual day passes you by like a blur. Meetings, deadlines, high priority emails, mobiles, laptops, monitors, screaming clients all whirl around you like a raging tornado sucking your life energy inside. The day ends with you limping back to your home wrecked with the thought about things you could not do in the to do list for the day.

People, even if I do not get a call from God ( some guys have all the luck, Chetan) it is high time I do something about my life which had been reduced to a continuous slog over with a high asking rate. I am currently trying my level best to create the perfect game plan to beat this demanding monster called Time. Actually it is a great high to achieve your goals by multi tasking in a short span. Problem is every time you cannot be lucky. Pushing the envelope is fine but the danger is the moment it tears off your human limitations are exposed. Sometimes I wish I had ten heads like Ravana. It definitely had its advantages in the world we live today.    

After a decade of fighting this losing battle let me at least share some sane advice with people who had just entered the arena.

Know your arithmetic. Each day has 24 hours. Each hour has 60 minutes and each minute has 60 seconds.

Clocks / mobiles with alarm are an absolute necessity.

Do not have a false opinion of your city’s traffic. Information is power and an effective tool in your battle against time.

If available, do not hesitate to delegate the workload. Time management is just an acronym of man management.

Give the same respect to your Boss and Wife. Both are the greatest allies of your enemy.


Before this review degenerate into an absolute waste of time for the readers let me end the same with some favourite quotes of mine on Time.

Time makes more converts than reason.

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you are the pilot.

You cannot turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.

There is more to life than increasing its speed.