Volume 5 · The Great Indian Bazaar · Essay 228

Social Clock

Social Clock is a small handle on a large fact. Grip it, and the fact becomes easier to carry.

It is worth keeping in your pocket not because it is always right, but because it is always available. A tool you carry beats a perfect tool you left at home.

The village panchayat and the housing society meeting are the same animal in different clothes: five people deciding, fifty people complaining, and everyone leaving wiser than the minutes suggest.

Society is a long conversation; the only question is whether you are listening or merely waiting to speak. No ceremony needed. Begin with the very next decision.