The other evening, grey-haired Madame Sara was admitted to hospital following heart trouble. As her case was diagnosed as serious, the cardiologist advised that she be kept under observation in the Intensive Care Unit. for one week. But very few of her dear ones visited her. And what upset her more was that her very close relatives, whom she greatly missed, had no time for her.

She looked back on the days when she was present at short notice for them, in any misfortune or even minor illness. She was so anxious that she would burst out crying, ?Who has time now, especially for someone ailing? All this is because money matters more than anything. They work and work; they?ve simply no time.?

Once in a casual meeting, a former colleague pointed out that he was ta very busy person. He had such a tight schedule that he had no time left for anything: work took all his time. Seeing the way people act and behave, W.H Davies must be at pains to note that we ?have no time to stand and stare?.

Speed, speed everywhere! To be on time at work, you catch the quickest means of transport - taxi, express bus, etc. If you use your own vehicle, you drive fast no matter where - crowded areas, roundabouts or pedestrian crossings. Once you get off, you walk hurriedly or even run to your workplace. Leaving home late, you find in speed the only solution. You forget the risk you are running. Because you want to save mi-nutes or seconds. And you keep complaining you have no time.

Yet, you have a lot of time. Whoever you are - king, fisherman, peasant or the richest person - time treats you alike. Do what you like, you cannot buy time with all your money. Lying on his death-bed, a man who had always boasted about his wealth could not pay the best doctor to prolong his life. Money is not life: time is life.

To waste time is to waste life. Time is indeed the stuff life is made of. Its proper use is the determining factor to make life successful. If you lose money, you can always get it back someday by working harder, winning a lottery or inheriting. But you cannot recover the time you have flittered away.

Worse still, some people dare to?kill time?. They are normally those who do not see that life is a colourful proposal. They do not realise that to kill time is to kill the golden chances life has offered to become better individuals, to improve their lives and those of others. What is done cannot be undone. Time - the ?old gypsy man? when gone cannot be recalled.

Whoever you are, whatever you do, you can have time for yourself. You have 24 hours a day - your biggest asset. I was amazed at reading a line from a wise man: ?To have more time, rob some from your sleep.? I was still thinking when I came across this saying from Napoleon Bonaparte: ?Four hours? sleep is enough for a man, six for a woman and eight for a fool.? To go further, apply simple arithmetic. For a lifetime of 90 years, if a person sleeps eight hours out of 24, it means one-third of one day or 30 years of his life - just sleeping. Does it not sound incredible?

Who then says you have no time? It is essential that you manage time properly You will thus have time for relaxation, with your family and for everything. Time is the most precious commodity, not meant to be ?wasted? or ?killed?. To end, refresh your memory with these lines from Rudyard Kipling.

?If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that?s in it, And - which is more, you?ll be a man, my son!?

To say you have no time is unreasonable. Time has to be planned and wisely spent. It is the surest way to succeed in life.

<B>Kaviraj SOHUR</B>