Lesson in Punctuality

 

In February 1965, I was a student in Sainik School Satara, a boarding School, in class 8. 

Every evening, we used to have a roll call where important orders/updates used to be passed. on one such day, for some reason only 28 students were on time out of more than 200. Apart from a "moral lecture", as a punishment, it was announced that we won't get to see the next movie, a weekly feature. And the movie was Kabuliwala, we had just read the famous story in our English class and kept hoping, nay were almost sure that since most of us were late, the authorities would relent, punish us in some other manner but  would let us see the movie.

But came the day and only those 28 who were on time were allowed to see it, rest of us had go without it. My classmate, Atul Lakhe, who has preserved a large number of photos and other memorabilia of the School days has kindly shared this entry that he made in his diary of the day

That one incident taught me the importance of punctuality and more importantly the need to persist with a decision taken, else people might take you for granted. 

Having spent more than 30 yrs in the Army, it was  further reinforced but when I joined a PSU after Army, punctuality became the biggest casualty, so much so that I had to change this habit since many a time, I would arrive on the appointed time only to find the preparations had yet to be completed. 

Punctuality remains one of our bigger weaknesses.