The Sands of Time

Asking for the time in India...

T

his afternoon I saw an Indian babu walking barefoot on the black sands of Kovalam Beach. He was wearing a loose-fitting white cotton shirt that was whirling with the breeze, and dark gray trousers with the cuffs rolled up mid-calf. He could have been a government clerk. Maybe a bank manager. Who knows?

“Excuse me, please. Do you know what time it is?”

He looked at me and said, “Now?”