WHERE TIME BECOMES MEANINGLESS
Out-Of-The-Ordinary
In our lives, everything is defined by its meaning. Irrespective of the size of an entity, we seek its meaning in order to come to grips with it. Without it, we may find ourselves surrounded by a fog of obscurity, hindering us from even comprehending the underlying aspects of the corresponding subject. Conceivably, this situation is relative to the significance of the subject: the greater the significance, the greater our lives are impacted. Hence, when it comes to ‘time’ being rendered meaningless, it may influence our lives drastically in unanticipated ways.
Yes, you read it correctly. Time has no meaning at the North Pole! A remote vast expanse of nothingness located at 90° north latitude, North Pole is a frigid and inhospitable region of ice and snow. The only species dwelling there include animals, like polar bears, seals, arctic fox, etc. Because of it being a prodigious place on the face of Earth, humans found themselves intrigued by its own world, and set off to explore it. On April 16, 1906, an American explorer and US naval officer Robert E. Peary tagged to his name the title of being the first man to reach the North Pole. Subsequently, others pursued, soon spinning into mass expeditions aimed at various purposes ranging from the mere pleasure of travelling to conducting researches.
Regardless of the purpose, human lives are affected in much the same way because of the state of ‘time’ there. At the North Pole, 24 time zones converge at a single point, thus not making any time zone distinguishable in order to interpret time. It is, as though, all of Earth’s time zones existing simultaneously and concurrently none of them existing at all! As a result, an established time cannot be allocated to this place unlike other places or countries that are equipped with their own time systems. Isn’t that weird? If this fact is not alienating enough, let me acquaint you with an even disconcerting reality: there is no concept of ‘time of day’ either. The picture that pops up in our minds intuitively when we think of describing a day is composed of daytime: when the sun is up and shining and night-time, when the sun has set, and darkness has prevailed. This scene that is so monotonous around us in our daily lives (each of them emerging once within only 24 hours) occurs just once per year around the North Pole. So it is quite plausible to know someone wondering: Is a single day up North so long that it lasts for months, or is a year up North so short that it lasts only a single day? In either case, we reach the truth — i.e. once it is day-time, there is unrelenting light, and once a polar night (what a night-time there is called) takes over, there is relentless darkness.
Despite the fore-mentioned odd nature of time at the North Pole, one must keep up with time. This necessity is magnified when on-going researches are considered that need to fulfill certain tasks and yield results in a specific timeframe. So how do they keep a track of time? For this purpose, they choose their own time. They may follow the time zones of the bordering countries or may keep shifting time depending on their activities. For example, a research team may change its time at regular intervals, say an hour or two ahead/behind, to sync up with an incoming research team that is following its own time. Isn’t is exciting to be in a place where you have the power to decide time, huh? Though exciting, it can be exasperating as well. Researchers have to follow a recurring schedule deprived of even mornings and evenings. They have meals at predetermined intervals and resume work, like checking on equipment or meeting in laboratories (built inside their research vessel), at equally rigid periods. Weeks and months fade by without a glance at news or television, with festivals going neglected. Worse, even communication with family, friends or colleagues in several other time zones is not easy and incorporates complex time conversions before it finally takes place. Last but not the least, the experience of putting yourself down to sleep, pretending that it is night-time while the sun is still all bright and shining, can be quite overwhelming too!
It is true that considering the nature and environment, North Pole may seem like an unearthly place. Consequently, living there may compel you to adopt a different way of life and behavior. However, this sad realty is outweighed by the fact that being there will offer you an opportunity to behold the extraordinary beauty of nature,and expose you to new experiences in life. Indeed, having to endure some hardships to be where time becomes meaningless is worth it!
