On Delay: A historical and labour-centric reflection Arun Kumar's interesting piece on time and delay encouraged me to reflect on this subject more historically and also by connecting the past and the present through the prism of labour and law. The historical connectedness also opened up the questions of differentiated trajectories of world-regions, which I reflect upon only briefly and also anecdotally. This is written in the spirit of furthering the conversation rather than offering a critique to what Arun has lucidly described. However, his piece, I think, needs a further probing of the meanings and experiences of delay and waiting not only at the generalized level of 'fast capitalism' but also of historically constituted notions of power and hierarchy, that imbues meaning to practices such as delay and wait, or speed and acceleration. Further, living in the age of 'fast capitalism' has created a homogeneized expectation of quick service as the hallmark of
Aji dekhiye na, ee humra supreme leader ka itna bada photo kaahe laga hai har jagah par? Abhi toh election ka date bhi nahi aaya hai aur lagta hai ki resultwo announce ho gaya. Aree pagli, ee koi normal photo nahi hai. It is called a selfie point - a point where the self dissolves into Him. Gita mein likha hai na, shareer nashwar hota hai lekin aatma amar. Haan wo toh theek hai, lekin Gita ka ee sab se kya lena dena? Lena dena hai. Iska matlab hai chitra mein bandh kar khud bhi vichitra ho jana. Phir Gita mein toh ye bhi likha hai ki insaan na kuch lekar aata hai na lekar jaata hai. Lekin Saheb toh hamesha jhola jhola bolte rehte hain. Kahte hain, jhola uthayenge aur furr ho jayenge. Kabhi socha hain aapne ki kiska jhola lekar wo chal denge aur usmein konchi konchi rakha hoga? Soche toh nahi hain lekin ho sakta hai usmein ek digital camera ho, wahi wala jo Saheb digital camera ke utpatti ke pehle se use kar rahe the. After all, vision doesn't require technology alone. It also re