Attitudes about time in India are incredibly interesting! Growing up, my parents would always joke about "Indian standard time" whenever we would leave to attend an Indian function that was supposed to start at 6...and didn't end up starting until 7:30. In India, many people view time in a relaxed way -- as something that does not have to be strictly adhered to, such as an "appointment at 7:15 pm," for instance. This attitude can even be seen in just observing the way people live life in India. Often, you will see neighbors or friends sitting outside and having tea, or hanging out at the nearby tea/fruit juice stand, as though the time passing by didn't matter at all -- after all, they are enjoying the time with a close friend. At first, I liked this attitude because I felt as though it provided people with a sense of appreciation for the "little things" in life -- dinner with family, drinking tea with a friend, and more.
However, after I spent more time in India, I honestly became somewhat frustrated by these attitudes, because I felt as though things would run a lot more smoothly if they ran on time. For example, during a vacation with my friend, I had to leave a day earlier to go back to our home city. I asked the hotel staff to arrange a taxi for me at 8:15 am (my train left at 9:30 am, and the train station was literally a 10-minute drive away -- but it was raining immensely). I figured that I would be at the station an hour in advance at most -- and considering "Indian Standard Time," I wanted to be safe rather than sorry. The next morning, 8:30 passed, and there was no sign of the taxi. 8:45 -- no taxi. I make sure that the hotel staff called the taxi driver. 9:00 -- the taxi driver comes...45 minutes late! Since it was monsoon season, there was a huge downpour and a LOT of traffic, especially in the mountains (where I was) -- making our normally 10-minute drive about 25 minutes. I get to the train station at 9:27 am and sprint to my train...just in the nick of time. Although it sounds fine now, it was terrible because I was incredibly worried about the time AND my own safety in a car that was driving fast along very slippery roads!
Thus, although Indian attitudes about time aren't always the same as my personal preferences of being on time (or at least 5 minutes early :) ), I've come to realize that sometimes, it's best to just accept differences as intricacies of the culture, and move on...and attempt to be early. :)
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