Monday, July 19, 2010

Time-pass!

I'm back after a short hiatus. A little vacationing, a little time-pass!
Time-pass; is a quintessential Indian word. While I was growing up in Mumbai, picking up the local lingo and enriching my Hinglish; somewhere unknown to me time-pass became the all encompassing term without which no day would come to an end. It wasn't just meant to be the perfect description of a procrastinator's list of things-to-do.
What would we all do without time-pass? It can be used to describe anything from khana to people to movies to nothing at all! Terrific word I say! Why am writing this blog post? If I could then I would've written a bhai-type number in praise of time-pass. It's the kind of word which reminds me of vada pav and cutting chai. It's a little about killing time; a lot about watching the world go by without having to think too much; a little like suspended animation; a lot like the feeling you get when you kick open your shoes, slump on your couch and don't know what to do next but then again you're in no hurry to find something to do either! That is time-pass! When something/someone is just about average; they're time pass ;) That's the irony of the word; on one hand it describes a feeling of unhurried enjoyment of your time and on the other hand it could very well be the epitome of mediocrity!
Unlike pass-time, time-pass isn't meant to be filled with useful things; it's meant to be full of stuff which you will not be able to substantiate; it's meant to make you feel a little useless and at the end of the day is meant to bring a smile to your face until you kick yourself and say,"Aaj bahut time-pass ho gaya!" and then it motivates you to work; perhaps the next day or so; until you indulge in a little more time-pass! ;)