Understanding IST (Indian Stretchable Time)

It has become a matter of practice. Indians are never time bound which is unfortunate but true. I agree with Janaki on the subject.

if you want to be richi rich and you want to hold money so time is critical for you because time is money. you have to be professionally expert in your field and should have a flexible mind to adjust to any situation without any hesitation.

Thanks for the referral Mr.Janaki Ram.

Time is very precious and one should not allow to waste.One should be able to think where it should be flexibile and where it should be punctual.The application of time management is very important to decide great things.

Of course you are right though so many may not agree with your view point.

Those of us who believe in behaving professionally in life should regard the concept of Indian stretchable time as an insult. 

Time is stretchable only if you dont have respect for other people's time. More precisely I believe that if you value your own time, then you begin to respect the value of others time as well.

Disregard for punctuality is one of the worst forms of inconsiderate behaviour.

This expresses our attitude towards "Time" : its stretchable  .. !

--   completely unacceptable - specially for who claims to be of "enlightened class"

--   an opportunistic approach

--   eats away our progress and achievement - time has a value

--   brings all shame for being an India

..............................  Mr. Joseph : .. The question is urs. Upto middle of ur posting, U appeared courageous, disciplined and a Change Manager to appreciate the value of Time ... . U are also a Manager with a Private Bank and owner of a Retail shop, it appears.  After that U changed ur course ......

U saw opportunity in in-discipline. Workers come late - but finish their job with a bit extra. Means ... U are in favor of the "Late Latifs "?

Would U pls clarify ?

Hi! Alex ,

U mention our 'culture' of flexi-timing , has an advantage , but flexi-timing does not give U results where team-effort is of significance and importance.So I fail to understand ur logic...It is OK when an individual works to targets set for him/her and the result is not dependant on the output / input, of others....Basically one should 'Value' Time , and espl:y the time of others...We Indians are very bad at that and do not care that it 'is rude' to keep others waiting...I am totally oppossed to ur views on IST .... Sushil Kumar["We-Care" Consultants,Pune].

The word punctual is missing with a lot of top executive and accordingly the same bolis down and further.

This applies without any exception to one and every body. The day everybody becomes punctual the face of India will change.

I STRETCHABLE TIME IS REALLY THE BANE OF PRODUCTIVITY. WITH INCREASING PROFESSIONALISM, TIME PUNCTUALITY HAS IMPROVED, BUT STILL A LONG WAY TO GO. THE LIST OF EXCUSES & ITS FORMULAS IS EQUALLY APPALLING. TIME MANAGEMENT HAS TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO BOOKS & TRAINING.THE MOST IMPORTANT THING(TIME) IS SO OFTEN TAKEN FOR GRANTED.

I STRETCHABLE TIME IS REALLY THE BANE OF PRODUCTIVITY. WITH INCREASING PROFESSIONALISM, TIME PUNCTUALITY HAS IMPROVED, BUT STILL A LONG WAY TO GO. THE LIST OF EXCUSES & ITS FORMULAS IS EQUALLY APPALLING. TIME MANAGEMENT HAS TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO BOOKS & TRAINING.THE MOST IMPORTANT THING(TIME) IS SO OFTEN TAKEN FOR GRANTED.

This is pretty normal in India to follow IST. The clock in India is generally more elastic than in many other places, one can make the best of it, and enjoy the benefits of a less stressful and more relaxed approach to time.

Hello to people including Mr Joseph who had the courage to stand up and challenge the norm!

We (in India) are so much accustomed to 'adjust' rather than 'arrange' a sort of "time padding" has come to be when we announce events. I am sure it's now common practice to "pad" and hour and a half cool to allow the margin of error!

But this reminds me the famous comparison chart of the Value of Time for people like Husain Bolt, P T Usha, The obstetrician and so on!

Would some one comment?

Hello Joseph, I will not agree with you. You should not decide with one example and may be you have come across delayed meeting. Instead we should be example for others to follow the time schedule. 

K Rajagopalan

I do agree on Janaki's view. May be that our Industry is predominantly Agrarian where Time is not exactly counted for. Allied services & people do live in the same way. For example, If I irrigate my field at 0700am instead of 0600 am, it does not cost me much. In similar way, things happening here that does not warrant time punctuality. If any one insists it, the price will be very heavy as Mrs Gandhi introduced punctuality by MISA, everywhere including Railways. Unfortunately, this kind of culture is not desired by us. An attempt was made to educate our mass but it went against the person.Hope people understand where the different people live who values time & how they manage with Time.

IT IS NOT ONLY A BANE... IT IS A SHAME  !

If we dont value TIME... TIME will not value us... its as simple as that. Being on time shows "Committment towards Work" and the Dedication towards it. It also shows that you respect the Opposite Person's Time too.

In India, at large... very few People are Time Bound. I would say it depends a lot on which City you are in. Mumbai for e.g. Time is Valued... 150 Kms away in Pune... They will tell U ' Okay lets meet Dus - Baara Baje ??? 10-10.15 is understood, BUT DUS - BAARA. They take pride in this as a matter of fact.

I Personally believe in being DOT ON TIME !

Happy Debating Friends ! 

Thanks Mr Janaki Ram for inviting,

It is a result of casual attitude of dealing with subjects and time being more noticeable the concern. The truth  is almost every aspect is dealt similar way. How many application does HR acknowledge or respond is an indicator. And this is the case in every process may we say.

Those who lack self-esteem indulge in IST.

Mr. Joseph,

this debate truely should bring an insight in to every individual.  I know the pains of being before or ontime.  The client does not turn up or worst cases are the appointment gets postponed.  But there are also people who cancel appointments if the said meeting is delayed.  We are accomodative to a very large extent.  In certain countries, I understand that people enter offices at 8:30am and are out at 5pm.  No work on saturdays and sundays.  The productivity is extracted during the work hours and the employees are not disturbed during weekends.

This brings a sense of belongingness to work and your free time is for your family and other personal things.  We end up working day in day out in the office and the family life goes for a toss.  We complain and start a debate on work/life balance.  I have observed that employees spend a lot of time during the day in cafeterria, cigerette/chai shop, extended lunches etc., and at the end of the day sit down and start work when they are supposed to go home and be with their family.  Utilisation of work hours proper also saves companies lot of expenses. 

This time management should be taught to every employee when he is inducted and make him understand that apart from work there is also family.  Work when you have to and the rest of the time is totally the individuals'.