Timepass

Oxford English Dictionary Online defines ‘timepass’ as ‘The action or fact of passing the time, typically in an aimless or unproductive way’. In contemporary India, people commonly use the word ‘timepass’ to refer to a period of downtime between bouts of work, and it is variously rendered as ‘timepass’, ‘time pass’, ‘time-pass’, and ‘TP’. While timepass could theoretically refer to any activity that passes the time, it usually denotes relatively meaningless, light, trivial activity, and it is counter-posed against ‘serious’ action in India. Timepass involves distraction, mild amusement, and is productive only insofar as it staves off boredom, prevents negative introspection, and allows the body, mind and soul some respite from ordinary life. ‘Bas main timepass kar raha hoon’ (‘I’m only doing timepass’) is the type of phrase one hears repeatedly at tea stalls and bus stops in Hindi-speaking India. The implication is ‘There is no further need for conversation; I’m doing almost nothing at all’. Timepass, in this sense, is quite different from the seemingly similar English word ‘pastime’ which connotes action undertaken for pleasure or as a hobby. Indeed, ‘timepass’ is often equated quite straightforwardly with ‘nothing’.