Time Differences Between East And West
On landing in London, I was asked to change my watch settings. Aunty resolved the puzzle by answering my ‘Why?’ She explained that the world time is measured from Greenwich, pronounced as green-itch. Zero degrees longitude line known as the ‘Prime Meridian’ passes through Greenwich in London, England. This line splits the globe into two vertical halves and is paved into the courtyard of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. Since 1884, the world has taken its time cues from this line. Taking London time as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Zero hour, time zones the world overrun ahead or behind it e.g. India runs ahead of it while the USA runs behind it. Since the earth takes 24 hours to complete one full revolution of 360 degrees, one hour marks 1/24th of 360 i.e. 15 degrees. So each hour of time difference translates to 15 degrees of longitude to east or west. Indian time is 5 and 1/2hr ahead of GMT.
Pooja was thankful to her Aunt-for having taught her something so vital.
