TIME

Time, they say, is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects. I know, it seems like Wiki style, but it is the truth. Also, time has been of special importance in history, after all, it has wrapped the most important, pathetic and totally impossible events in itself.

Time has not only shown us what it has to offer humans, it also makes us realize, that there’s a cycle; a chain of events which has, and will keep on repeating sometime or the other. When our forefathers told us, TIME (not the magazine) is of utmost importance, we hardly understood why they say such things, despite being ‘modern’ of their age. I guess what they wanted to inform us was, that TIME not only shows us different things, it gives us experience. Experience enough to differentiate one thing from another, experience enough to understand the gravity of any situation you are in.

Usually, time has been understood and explained by the greats and experienced ones during those moments where relationships or emotions were involved. Relationships and emotions between countries or human beings. Being human not only makes us face time with first-come-first-serve basis, it also makes us prone to consequences thereafter. However, those consequences, which we suffer, make us realize the importance of time and the emphasis on thinking before acting.

When we suffer, we have scars, some literal, some metaphorical. But in reality, the metaphoric scars hurt humans more than any possible or impossible ones. Under such circumstances, the greats (or what we say, the most hurt ones) have told us to let ‘time’ pass by. How can time make u forget the pain u suffered, the anguish, the ironic moment u were in? Is it because of the habit, we tend to forget that moment of pain or the habit of living on first-come-first-serve basis?

Lets talk about my recent encounter with TIME. Talking in terms of military (as I love it), I had a good coordination with my boss, General Sechapper. We understood each other, helped and made things run as team, despite other crappy personnel within our team. It was like the moment where you were the sniper and your partner, your eyes on the target, guides you in order to make you take ‘the’ perfect shot. Time had passed by and we had made some marks of our achievements for people to see.

But recently, some work came by, which not only hampered, but broke the core understanding between us both. The Project Brick Road, initiated by our boss was thought to be monumental in regards to the current work we were doing. This project would not only bring a massive change, but improve (as the boss said it) the way we work. Decrease manual work and improve efficiency. Thinking in such broad terms and aspect, definitely meant that this project wasn’t supposed to be only a project. It was to be an operation. Things started getting out of hand from day one. Our Boss, General Messi was at the base, keeping himself away from field duty. My 6th Sniper Division was supposed to be headed by my immediate boss, Major S'échapper. However, I got to know right away that I am all by myself. I shouted for help and support; crying that the outcome might be similar to the Battle of Mogadishu. But General Messi, stating that I’m a fine sniper, can do the job all good.

In response to my pleas for back up, I was given a rookie, a soldier from the Territorial Army (the name says it all)[for any army jargons, please Google]. Now how is a sniper supposed to train a Territorial Army soldier? That too during the Project running!! Well, moving on with the story, a sniper like myself, who has simply fought battles and small fights in cities, single handedly tackled around 4-5 divisions of the enemy in the war. But like I said earlier, things got out of hand from day 1. General Messi kept comparing things with his previous battles he had leaded, without understanding it’s a different war. Major Sechapper kept coming in and going out of the project. All in all, with the whole chaos, we lost the war. The outcome was as similar to the Battle of Mogadishu. And now we end up clearing our own mess.

So, now, both General Messi and Major Sechapper blame me, the sniper for the loss of the war. Yes, definitely I agree I could not handle all 9 army divisions, 3 tank regiments and 2 helicopter squadrons along with 2 battalions of AA artillery. But isn’t that outstandingly stupid? I guess the stats of the war can clearly make you get the summary of the situation. Also, a small army prank with the major, I was the one to blame. And that was clearly shown in his work during the war.

However, what my point is, in this story, that suddenly with this war, my relation, my moment with Major Sechapper, those deeds we did for each other are now unaccounted for. Although the reader, including myself would like to know how come those deeds are forgotten, but the point here is, How, can those deeds, those moments be relived and how can this regretful situation be put aside? After all, Ray Cummings, an early writer of science fiction, wrote in 1922, "Time… is what keeps everything from happening at once".

I hardly care about General Messi, because he simply wants his job done, no matter how. But Major Sechapper, we knew, and know each other well. The most painful thing here isn’t that my major blames me for the outcome of Project Brick Road, but his work was affected with that prank I had played on him. I don’t think this was fair on the part of the Major. Now, after losing my cool for all this, major hardly wants to clear the air between us.


TIME, is the word I had in mind for all this. But how can time play its part here? Isn’t it going to take its toll before giving any fruits, if it had to give any? Time, if given, wont it create communication gap? Coz both parties have their own opinion to express. In the story above, despite the fact that Major affected his judgment in his work, for the prank played, why is it that time needs to given, in order to settle the differences?

Probably, the answer what I think may be, is that humans have the ability to accomplish anything or nothing within a specific timeline. TIME will not change its pace, but humans can. And I guess due to this reason only, we let ‘time’ pass by, subconsciously knowing that we can resolve or accomplish that task, any “time”.

I rest my case with these lines:

There is an appointed time (zman) for everything. And there is a time (’êth) for every event under heaven–
A time (’êth) to give birth, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to tear down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search, and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart, and a time to sew together; A time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate; A time for war, and a time for peace. – Ecclesiastes 3:1–8