Anupam- The Dreamer

It is a common saying that we cannot experience something unless we do it ourselves. And this is very true in the context of time as well. Whenever we try to imagine some event that has happened in the past, we try to look it from the lens of our understanding of “time elasticity”. This concept of “time elasticity” may initially seem bizarre to you, but I will try to make it simple. It means that the time is not a constant, rather it expands or contracts as per your own perceptions and experiences. Take for example, watching your favourite sport like India vs. Pak cricket match or F1 race or even a movie or chatting with friends, where 3-4 hours seem like a very short time. And on the other hand, imagine sitting in a boring 1 hour lecture or a presentation in college or office, and it seems like a very long time.

So, it is not the actual ticking of hands of a clock that matter to our mind, it is rather the perception of the events happening around and its linkage with our emotions and understanding that matter most to us. The people who are engaged in professions which is also their hobby or favourite past-time, explain this state of mind as a state of uninterrupted flow of time and energy. Like, if you ask Aryton Senna or Sachin Tendulkar, that don’t you get bored of driving F1 car or playing cricket all your life, their answer will be a big NO! But, if you ask anyone who is engaged in a profession which is not to his/her liking, then every day at work seems nothing short of a torture! It is all inside the mind, you see.

Let me take you to another dimension of time. As humans, we are accustomed to comparing every time span according to our own life’s time-span (or to put it simply, our present age). If you sit and try to make sense of how much long ago was the independence in 1947, it will seem like eternity. Because none in our generation was born during that time. And if we talk to very elderly persons who were born in that era, it seems like those events happened long long ago. Imagine, how much changes have been there in the last 200 years of human lifetime. Before 200-250 years, there was no automobile, no airplane, no big industries, no information technology, no smart gadgets etc. etc. And how much has changed in the last 2 centuries for humanity as a whole. The last 200 years (1800-2000 AD), on a timescale, are equal to the 200 years preceding that period (1600-1800 AD), and yet the pace of time seems to be different for both of them. The closer we are to the time frame, the more we can relate ourselves to it and to the changes that occur during that timeframe.

Now, just try to make sense how much long ago was the period of Buddha or Christ or Harappan civilization, as compared to present time. Just imagine 2000 years!!! However, hard you may imagine, but you cannot ever make proper sense of 2000 years. To put this in perspective, 2000 years is like 100 generations of human race (assuming 20 years to be a generation). 100 generations!!! We don’t know anything about our ancestors of 5^th generation, and just imagine 100 generations! And when I read about periods like 800,000 years (like different eras of human evolution), it is just mind-boggling to say the least! It is hard to imagine such a long timespan. Now, imagine how long ago was big bang explosion and the life of universe- that was 13.7 billion years ago. 13.7 billion for us is just a number, which cannot ever be imagined or made sense of.

All of this imagination will force us to come to a conclusion that how small is the human lifespan, in the overall scheme of things of universe. 70-80 years as compared to life of celestial bodies is just nothing! And yet, if we change our time-frame and compare it with the past 70-80 years that have just passed, it feels like a very long time. It is all a game of perception you see. The time is the same, the inanimate things around us are the same, and yet the perceptions differ and the meaning of time is different for each and every person. If we can put ourselves as a non-judgemental observer of time, like a person who is watching the passage of time since 13.7 billion years till date, then probably we can understand better how far we have come as humanity and how much progress we have made. Also, we may better appreciate the time we have at our disposal and how can we better make an impact on the lives of ourselves and people around us in this short lifespan.

Maybe, Einstein wanted to teach us about this time elasticity, when he taught about his concept of relativity. You don’t need to go on Interstellar mission, to discover that the time passes slow when you travel at a much higher speed (around speed of light) and you may return younger than your own child when you return on the earth! You just need to observe the passage of time from a distance and make your own sense out of it. And one thing is definite, you cannot control the flow of time, but only your perception of the same and the best you can get out of it.

If you didn’t understand any bit of the above discussion, just relax and remember- Time is the most powerful of everything that exists in this universe. There was neither anything, nor will there be anything more powerful than this-TIME! Period.

Disclaimer- If you have reached the end of article, then you may even think that your lifespan is nothing as compared to the overall scheme of things, but don’t worry! You are also as old as the age of the universe! Till next time 😉