Sunday, July 6, 2008

Punctuality of the non-rounded times!

I know the title doesnt make any sense- its just that I thought it sounds appropriately different and vague to motivate people to read this post on a boring subject of "punctuality".
The whole world knows the Dutch obsession with punctuality. I got to see it last week after barely managing to hop on to my connecting train from Amsterdam Central to Haarlem. Unfortunate for another guy, because he was a few seconds too late- the door had started closing. The train did not start moving before at least 10 seconds after the whistle was blown and doors closed- but the poor guy’s pleas to open the door fell on the deaf ears of the railway officer who was right there.

What is it with this Dutch obsession with time to last nano seconds and sometimes being so strict in implementing it that it borders on rudeness? Don’t get me wrong, I admire this quality- who else can appreciate this better than someone who has lived all her life in India?

We Indians are used to and accept (+/-) 10 minutes (mostly plus) tolerance range as normal for a given appointment or schedule. It is normal for trains to run 2-3 hours late, almost a commitment by airlines to delay their flights minimum by half an hour, cinema shows do not start on time and city buses- lets not even talk about them because they do not follow any time table! Having lived through this, once you land in Netherlands- amongst other things- this adherance to punctuality is bound to impress you.

But sometimes I do not get the "attention-to-details" till last minute philosophy. For example what is this with non-rounded time schedules? 8:06am, 8:37am- I mean I wonder however did they arrive at such accurate timing because it works quite well.

I think they deputed some people to especially undertake this job of actually traveling on the trains, metros and buses to note down the exact travel time precise to the last second to prepare the time table!

But how the heck do they account for uncertainties like traffic jam (oh yes there are lots of ‘em). It boggles me- maybe they can get all these agencies GVB, NS all ISO certified if they are not already certified!

One another place which is obsessed with time- rather clocks- I have heard is Switzerland. Clocks and watches in all shapes and sizes and designs are integral part of this country's landscape. Gotta go there to see it myself. Have to pick a swiss watch- how cool will that be. Oh no look at the time it is 6:07 pm - another beautiful non-rounded time ....Love it!

No comments: