Kamal Hasanan uncle was our neighbor from 1990-93. When my bro and me were in 3rd/4th class, he got transferred to Kolkata under deputation. When we met him after one year, he said various interesting things about Kolkata. He said that in Kolkata sun sets soon at 4:30 PM and rises early at 5 AM., and added that people sleep early in Kolkata. When we asked him the reason, he said Kolkata is to the east of India.
Later, in 7th class we studied that, sun takes two hours of time to travel from Arunachal Pradesh to Dwaraka of Gujarat. Than means, in Dwaraka, even at 6-6:30 one cannot see the sun, while in East and North East, it can be seen at 5.
Dhaka, which is near to Kolkata has a time difference of 30 mins when compared to India. i.e., if it is 12 in Kolkata and North East, in spite of being at the same location, it is 12:30 in Dhaka. We always used to wonder why this difference is there. Later, we have realized that time which is followed in Dwaraka is not exactly the Dwaraka time. It is almost 1 hour less that the Indian Time and 2 hours less when compared to Kolkata time. So, the sun rise time is not 6:30 AM (India Time), it is 5:30 AM in Dwaraka.
My grand father used to fix an auspicious time (muhurtham) for various ceremonies to be held at Hyderabad... while the muhurtham was fixed at some other place (in Kakinada, around 200KMs far away from Hyderabad in horizontal direction). Later, he used to subtract 13 minutes from that muhurtham saying that the time is different in Kakinada and Hyderabad. For example, if muhurtham is fixed at 10:34 (Kakinada Standards), when you perform rituals in Hyderabad, it must be performed at 10:21.
Hence, we can see that there is a lot of confusion with respect to time. This is just a problem with 200KMs. Imagine how great the problem would be when your time is calculated at Dwaraka and is supposed to be applied in Kashi hills of Arunachal Pradesh. Distance from Dwaraka to Ar.P is 3200KMs.
So, a standard is formulated across the nation., known as Indian Standard Time which is 5.5 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. This time is exact in the places of Allahabad, Kakinada and Colombo. All other people of other places should adjust their time as per that standard.
Suppose, people need not follow same time all over the nation.. people in far east start their normal routines at their 6 AM which is still night in the far west(4AM). So, the east starts consuming electricity when the west is sleeping So, there will be lesser energy consumption at peak hours.
With same time everywhere, people in east should use lights from 4:30 PM onwards and west have to use them at morning even till 7AM. This is simply wastage of energy.
In the late 1980s, there was a proposal to separate the country into two or three time zones to conserve energy.. however, the recommendations were not adopted. In Assam, tea gardens follow a separate time zone known as the Tea Garden Time that is one hour ahead of IST. Since the sun sets early in Assam, work needs to be started early too.
Only advantage which we can see is that there will be no confusion at all. How difficult it would be for us to face a situation when the Railway Inquiry Counter in Bilaspur says.. Howrah-Ahmedabad Express train would start at 12 Kolkata time, reach Bilaspur at 6AM Bilaspur time and finally reach its destination at 12 Ahmedabad time!!!
Later, in 7th class we studied that, sun takes two hours of time to travel from Arunachal Pradesh to Dwaraka of Gujarat. Than means, in Dwaraka, even at 6-6:30 one cannot see the sun, while in East and North East, it can be seen at 5.
Dhaka, which is near to Kolkata has a time difference of 30 mins when compared to India. i.e., if it is 12 in Kolkata and North East, in spite of being at the same location, it is 12:30 in Dhaka. We always used to wonder why this difference is there. Later, we have realized that time which is followed in Dwaraka is not exactly the Dwaraka time. It is almost 1 hour less that the Indian Time and 2 hours less when compared to Kolkata time. So, the sun rise time is not 6:30 AM (India Time), it is 5:30 AM in Dwaraka.
My grand father used to fix an auspicious time (muhurtham) for various ceremonies to be held at Hyderabad... while the muhurtham was fixed at some other place (in Kakinada, around 200KMs far away from Hyderabad in horizontal direction). Later, he used to subtract 13 minutes from that muhurtham saying that the time is different in Kakinada and Hyderabad. For example, if muhurtham is fixed at 10:34 (Kakinada Standards), when you perform rituals in Hyderabad, it must be performed at 10:21.
Hence, we can see that there is a lot of confusion with respect to time. This is just a problem with 200KMs. Imagine how great the problem would be when your time is calculated at Dwaraka and is supposed to be applied in Kashi hills of Arunachal Pradesh. Distance from Dwaraka to Ar.P is 3200KMs.
So, a standard is formulated across the nation., known as Indian Standard Time which is 5.5 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. This time is exact in the places of Allahabad, Kakinada and Colombo. All other people of other places should adjust their time as per that standard.
Disadvantages of having same time all over the nation:
Suppose, people need not follow same time all over the nation.. people in far east start their normal routines at their 6 AM which is still night in the far west(4AM). So, the east starts consuming electricity when the west is sleeping So, there will be lesser energy consumption at peak hours.
With same time everywhere, people in east should use lights from 4:30 PM onwards and west have to use them at morning even till 7AM. This is simply wastage of energy.
In the late 1980s, there was a proposal to separate the country into two or three time zones to conserve energy.. however, the recommendations were not adopted. In Assam, tea gardens follow a separate time zone known as the Tea Garden Time that is one hour ahead of IST. Since the sun sets early in Assam, work needs to be started early too.
Advantages of Unified time:
Only advantage which we can see is that there will be no confusion at all. How difficult it would be for us to face a situation when the Railway Inquiry Counter in Bilaspur says.. Howrah-Ahmedabad Express train would start at 12 Kolkata time, reach Bilaspur at 6AM Bilaspur time and finally reach its destination at 12 Ahmedabad time!!!
There doesn't seem to be much problem with one IST sir..ppl got used to it..
ReplyDeleteby the way... kamal hasan uncle kamal gurinchi cheppina mucchatla .. vipulanga oka blog raayakodadaa sir :-)
ReplyDeleteYes Amaresh.. people got used to it :-)
ReplyDeleteha ha .. he said few more things about Kolkata... he said that Hoogli river flows in one direction till evening and flows in reverse direction after 4PM.. this point I have been investigating for the last 15 years :) another thing is.. morning trains in Howrah station only bring passengers from other places(only arrivals and no departures).. and evening trains are only meant for departures .. such things he said in those days Amaresh... and yeah.. he is a civil engineer in those days..so he must have some reasoning behind that river flow .. one day I will go to Kolkata and find it out :)