TIMELESS WISDOM

"A proverb is the wit of one, and the wisdom of many." — Lord John Russell (c. 1850)

As one grows older, it is natural to look back fondly on the past, cherishing memories that bring nostalgia. Among these, old sayings or proverbs hold a special place.

Proverbs are easy to remember because they are simple, concise, and often rhythmic. People of my generation grew up with proverbs woven into everyday conversations, offering moral guidance, common truths, and practical wisdom. Nearly every culture and language has its own treasure trove of proverbs, passed down through generations.

Historically, proverbs originate from diverse sources, including folklore, literature, religious texts, and oral traditions. The Book of Proverbs, attributed primarily to King Solomon, is a renowned collection of wisdom on topics such as ethics, relationships, and diligence.

In English, proverbs are classified into various categories based on their themes and origins:

• Traditional Proverbs – Passed down through generations (e.g., A stitch in time saves nine); Biblical Proverbs – Derived from the Bible; Literary Proverbs – Found in works of literature; Regional Proverbs – Specific to certain cultures or regions; Modern Proverbs – Newly coined expressions that capture contemporary thoughts.

Interestingly, there are an estimated 300 to 500 proverbs that stem from the Bible. However, some scholars argue that of the 106 most common proverbs across Europe, only 11 can be traced back to biblical origins. Additionally, over 1,400 new English proverbs have emerged and gained popularity in the 20th century.

Proverbs in my early life

As children, we often heard our elders use proverbs in daily conversations. I vividly recall my grandmother frequently repeating a Malayalam saying: "If only there is a wall, you can paint pictures"—a reminder that without good health, nothing can be accomplished. How true it was, especially when I reflect on the untimely loss of my parents and elder brother due to neglecting their health.

Malayalam, my native language, is rich with proverbs such as:

"Even for a crow, its babies are golden." (A mother always sees her child as precious.); "On a single misstep, even an elephant may fall." (Anyone can make mistakes.); "Even a squirrel can do what it can." (From the epic Ramayana, emphasizing that every effort counts.); "In excess, even Amrit is poison." (Too much of anything is harmful.); "Only when you reach near the seed will you know the sourness of a mango." (One must experience something to truly understand it.); "Eat only the bread, don’t count the pans." (Focus on what matters, not on unnecessary details.); Proverbs have no chaff in them (Proverbs are pure wisdom)

My Malayalam teacher had a favourite proverb for slow learners: "If necessary, jackfruits can grow even on roots." This was based on the common sight in Kerala of jackfruits sprouting from exposed roots.

In our English classes, we were made to write and memorize well-known proverbs such as:

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away"; "All that glitters is not gold"; "Time and tide wait for no man"; "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise"; "Slow and steady wins the race."

My father, a scholar of English literature and also the principal of our college, frequently quoted English proverbs. When my sisters and I crowded the kitchen, he would quip, "Too many cooks spoil the broth." On cleanliness, he would remind us, "Cleanliness is next to godliness." He believed in hard work and often repeated, "No pains, no gains."

At college, when students idled away free periods, he would walk in quietly and say, "Gather ye roses while ye may." (Seize the moment.)

Bihari Proverbs    In later years of my life I worked in Bihar, and thus became aware of some of the proverbs in Hindi. Proverbs from Bihar, like those in Hindi in general, are deeply rooted in everyday life, reflecting the region’s wisdom, humour, and practical knowledge. Bihari proverbs often use rustic imagery, drawing from agriculture, rivers, and rural livelihoods. For example, "जाके पाँव ना फटी बिवाई, वो क्या जाने पीर पराई" (One who has never had cracked heels cannot understand others' pain) speaks of empathy gained through experience. Similarly, "नाच न आवे, आंगन टेढ़ा" (If one cannot dance, they blame the uneven floor) highlights the tendency to make excuses.

Hindi proverbs, in general, cover a wide range of themes—perseverance ("धीरे-धीरे रे मना, धीरे सब कुछ होय"), morality ("जो गरजते हैं, वो बरसते नहीं"), and wisdom ("ऊँट के मुँह में जीरा")—providing timeless insights. These proverbs, passed down through generations, continue to shape thought and conversation across India.

Influence of Proverbs

Looking back, I realize that proverbs have had a profound impact on my life. Many guided me through many of life’s challenges:

"Where there’s a will, there’s a way." – Inspired me to persevere; "God helps those who help themselves." – Encouraged self-reliance; "No pain, no gain." – Motivated me to work hard; "Knowledge is power." – Reinforced the value of learning; "Don’t cry over spilled milk." – Helped me move on from failures; "Every cloud has a silver lining." – Reminded me that better days lie ahead; "Time heals all wounds." – Provided comfort in personal losses; "No man is an island." – Emphasized the importance of relationships.

I have always tried to live by "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," popularized by Mahatma Gandhi. Through experience, I learned that "Honesty is the best policy," as it is far easier to tell the truth once than to maintain a lie. I also came to appreciate the wisdom in "Strike while the iron is hot" and "Make hay while the sun shines," which taught me never to miss an opportunity.

Aphorisms: Proverbs' Close Cousins

Aphorisms, like proverbs, are concise statements expressing general truths. Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, compiled some of the world’s best aphorisms in Poor Richard’s Almanack, first published in 1733. Some of my favourites include:

"Hunger never saw bad bread "; "Well done is better than well said"; "A small leak will sink a great ship"; "Lost time is never found again"; "A good example is the best sermon"; "We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct."; “Without Justice courage is weak”; “Poverty wants some things, luxury many things and Avarice all things.

Franklin also had a humorous side:

• "Mary’s mouth costs her nothing, for she never opens it but at others' expense."
• "A good lawyer is a bad neighbour."
• "After three days, men grow weary of a wench, a guest, and rainy weather."

Are Proverbs Dying?

Today, I realize that traditional proverbs have almost disappeared from everyday conversations. However, they are not entirely dead; they have simply evolved with the digital age.

While oral storytelling once preserved proverbs, digital communication has reshaped how wisdom is shared. Younger generations may find them too formal for fast-paced conversations, preferring memes, emojis, and viral quotes instead. Nevertheless, literature, media, and even AI chatbots continue to use proverbs, keeping them relevant.

The digital age has also played a role in archiving and reviving proverbs. Online dictionaries, cultural blogs, and search engines ensure that these nuggets of wisdom remain accessible.

As someone from an older generation, I am slowly adjusting to this fast-paced, tech-driven world. Yet, I still cherish the proverbs of the past, for they remind me that "All that glitters is not gold" and, more importantly, that "Old is gold."

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THE ENIGMA OF TIME

"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not." — St. Augustine, Confessions (Book 11)

Like many others, I have long been intrigued by the concept of time. My curiosity began in school when our English teacher, irked by our cross-talking, punished us by making us write the proverb “Time and tide wait for no man” fifty times. As I reflected on its meaning, I understood that tides were governed by the moon’s gravitational pull, but what about time? Was it real or merely a construct of the human mind?

Later, I attempted to read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, but found its concepts complex. Despite this, my fascination with time remained undiminished.

The Importance of Time

Time is commonly defined as the progression of events from past to future, moving in one direction. It is often regarded as the fourth dimension alongside the three spatial dimensions in the physical world. In both the International System of Units (SI) and the International System of Quantities, time is one of the seven fundamental physical quantities.

Throughout history, time has been explored in religion, philosophy, poetry, and science. Its measurement has driven technological advancements, playing a crucial role in navigation and astronomy. Time also has economic and personal significance, governing daily activities and short or long-term planning.

Measuring Time: A Historical Perspective

Early humans observed celestial movements to track time, which later influenced civilizations’ activities. The Greeks distinguished between sequential (Chronos) and opportune (Kairos) time. Chronometry, the science of timekeeping, relies on clocks for short durations and calendars for longer periods. The Egyptians developed sundials and water clocks around 1500 BCE, later refined by the Arabs. Hourglasses were crucial for navigation, as seen in Magellan’s voyages.

The Evolution of Clocks

The term "clock" originates from Latin clocca (bell). Early mechanical clocks appeared in China in the 11th century, evolving with gravity, springs, and electricity. The first alarm clock, dating to ancient Greece, used water to trigger a whistle. Modern timekeeping relies on atomic clocks, GPS, and standardized time zones.

Calendars

Lunar calendars date back 6,000 years, while Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 45 BCE, later refined into the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Various civilizations, including the Egyptians, Mayans, and Indians, developed agricultural calendars that remain in use for farming and religious purposes.

Time in My Family

Growing up in a rural Indian village, my family largely depended on nature to track time. A grandfather clock adorned our main hall, but it was rarely consulted. Instead, we awoke to the calls of a nomadic Nayadi seeking alms, breakfast was signalled by temple bells, and daily activities were guided by the position of the sun’s shadow.

Important ceremonies followed muhurta (auspicious time), distinct from conventional time. Agricultural work aligned with the traditional Hindu calendar, often proving more reliable than modern weather forecasts in predicting onset of monsoon.

Our grandfather, despite owning a timepiece, relied on the veranda’s shadows to schedule meals. My brother’s alarm clock woke everyone—except him. Our father’s cuckoo clock, a souvenir from Europe, charmed us by day but at midnight, it not only woke up the entire household, but the neighbours too! My mother’s loud morning radio broadcasts ensured we never overslept.

Our father was gifted a modern wall clock by his students when he retired. It occupied the pride of place in our home for a long time after he died.

In our youth, time moved slowly, and we had time for each other.

Cyclic and Linear Views of Time

Many ancient cultures viewed time cyclically. In Hindu philosophy, time is depicted as Kalachakra (the Wheel of Time), signifying endless cycles of creation, preservation, and destruction. The Mayans, Aztecs, and Chinese held similar beliefs.

Conversely, the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions perceive time as linear, progressing from creation to an ultimate end.

The Arrow of Time

Time appears to have a single direction, known as the arrow of time. The reason for its irreversibility remains one of science’s great mysteries. The second law of thermodynamics offers an explanation: entropy (disorder) in an isolated system can only increase, preventing the universe from returning to a previous state.

However, observations of nature challenge this linear view. In fact, time seems to be encoded in nature, especially in regard to the appearance of leaves, buds and flowers at predicted intervals. Life follows cycles of birth, growth, and decay. Erwin Schrödinger, in discussing the origins of life, noted that biological systems create “order from disorder.” If life disintegrates into elements that form new life, does this support a cyclical perspective of time?

Another puzzle lies in human memory. Our minds effortlessly traverse past and future through recollections and imagination. If time were strictly linear, what physical mechanism enables this cognitive flexibility?

Poets on Time

Time has fascinated poets and philosophers alike. T.S. Eliot, in his meditative reflection on time, wrote:

"Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future,

And time future contained in time past.

If all time is eternally present,

All time is unredeemable—"

William Henry Davies, in his oft-quoted poem Leisure, lamented the absence of stillness in a hurried life:

"What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare—"

Look at these beautiful lines from an Urdu poem by the renowned Urdu poet Ali Sardar Jafri

Dance, O spirit of liberty, for life is eternally dancing,

The universe revolves in the orbit of times, in an eternal dance.

Time in Philosophy and Science

Ancient Greek philosophers debated time’s nature—whether it was endless or finite, linear or cyclical. Plato linked time to celestial motion, while Aristotle viewed it as a measure of change.

Seventeenth and eighteenth-century thinkers questioned whether time was absolute or merely conceptual. Newton viewed time as absolute and universal, while Leibniz argued it was relational. Kant proposed that time is a framework humans use to structure events.

Einstein’s Time and Relativity

Classical mechanics assumed time was uniform everywhere. However, Einstein’s theories of relativity revolutionized this view, demonstrating that time is relative and dependent on an observer’s frame of reference. Moving clocks tick more slowly than stationary ones. Clocks in space, due to lower gravitational influence, run faster than those on Earth. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station experience minor time dilation upon returning to Earth.

Incidentally, Einstein's theories of relativity were inspired by the Zytglogge, the landmark Clock Tower located in the city of Bern, Switzerland. In 1905, while receding away from the Clock Tower on a tramcar, Einstein imagined what would happen if the tram was moving at the speed of light. He realized that at such great speed, the hands of the clock would appear to be completely stationary. 

Albert Einstein, in a letter to the family of his late friend Michele Besso, famously wrote:

"People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

However, Einstein did not accept quantum theory, which provides a radically different view of time.

The Space-Time Continuum

Einstein described time and space as a unified space-time continuum. Massive objects distort this continuum, producing gravity and altering the flow of time. Black holes bend space-time so extremely that time halts entirely within them.

Time and the Human Brain

The human brain perceives time through the suprachiasmatic nuclei, a region responsible for regulating circadian rhythms. Scientists believe that our perception of time is fundamentally linked to memory formation, shaping how we experience its passage.

When did Time Begin—and Will it End?

Scientists estimate that time began 13.8 billion years ago with the Big Bang. Whether time will end depends on the universe’s fate. If it expands indefinitely, time continues. If another Big Bang occurs, our timeline ends, and a new one begins.

How Modern Science Explains Time

Italian theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli (known as the new Stephen Hawkings), renowned for his work on loop quantum gravity, presents a fascinating perspective on time in his book The Order of Time (2018). I was fortunate to read this thought-provoking work some time ago.

Rovelli argues that time is not an absolute reality but an illusion shaped by our perception. According to him, there is no such thing as the “present” or the “now”—what we perceive as the present is already in the past, because when we watch a sunset, we are actually seeing the Sun as it was nearly 10 minutes ago, since light takes time to reach us. Even in our immediate surroundings, our brains take a few milliseconds to process information, meaning our perception always lags behind reality.

Rovelli further explains that “thinking of the world as a collection of events, of processes, is the only way that is compatible with relativity”.

Why, then, do we construct time? Rovelli attributes it to entropy, the fundamental principle of thermodynamics.

In a universe where time is not a fundamental entity, we impose its structure to make sense of existence. Without it, we would be left with “---an empty, windswept landscape almost devoid of all trace of temporality.”

Time and Quantum Physics

Rovelli explains the Quanta of Time through three key ideas:

(i)    Granularity – Time has a smallest possible unit, Planck time (10⁻⁴⁴ seconds), beyond which time loses meaning.

(ii)  Indeterminacy – Quantum mechanics shows that an electron’s future position is uncertain; it exists as a probability cloud between observations.

(iii)                    Relationality – Objects do not have fixed, independent positions; they materialize only in relation to other systems.

Rovelli concludes that time is not a fixed framework Instead, reality resembles a shifting tapestry of fluctuating space-times, superimposed and interacting in ways beyond human intuition.

Mind-boggling, isn’t it? After reading what Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Rovelli have said about time, I find myself in agreement with St. Augustine: "I know what time is, but if you ask me, I do not know." Thus, to me, time remains an enigma.

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