In a village in India, a siren sounds every day at 7pm, people turn off their televisions and cell phones, talk to their families, and at 8.30pm, when the siren is heard again, they turn them on again.
In the city of Vadgaon, in the state of Maharashtra, everyone agrees that TVs and smartphones are “addiction” tools.
This rare initiative of having an hour and a half a day to speak was taken by the representative village council at a meeting on August 14, on the eve of India’s Independence Day.
“We had to stop this addiction,” he told the BBC. Hindi Vijay Mohitepresident of the city council.
After the matter was discussed, the proposal was brought to the neighbors. At first they were mocked by most, but when the idea of installing a siren in the village temple came up, the general perspective changed.
As in “The Purge”
The initiative was not easy to implement. The first few times the siren went off, the municipal staff and some neighbors went out to visit the village warning that no one should have their television or telephone on.
But over time they got used to it. Mohite confirmed that “the decision could finally be fully implemented throughout the city”.
The prime minister is a sugar cane farmer who has three young children. Following the implementation of this measure, Mohite claims he can see the difference between today and the times before the siren.
“Before, children didn’t focus on their studies. Now there is a normal conversation between adults,” she says.
According to BBC Hindi, a study by clinical psychology professor al National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience (Nimhan), Manoj Kumar Sharmato 682 adults between July and December 2020 showed that “problematic internet use” was just a phenomenon of teenagers and young adults.
“The risk of problematic use increases with excessive and unproductive use of the Internet, which can cause psychological distress,” notes the study, adding: “It has the potential to damage many aspects of teenage life“.
Stranger things in India
Leaving the topic of televisions and phones, but staying in the country, it is worth remembering that in June of this year a young influencer has decided to get married.
Kshama Bindu, a young 24-year-old influencer from the city of Vadodara, India, chose the location and set a date for June 11th. She wrote her vows about her and although she does not have a partner, she wanted to get married in a practice that has become more common in the world and is called “sologamy”.
Although Indian law does not support this type of action as there must be two people in a marriage – “sologamia is not legal,” he said. Krishnakant VakhariaSenior Counsel in the High Court, Bindu is no such deal.
Regarding their marriage, considered the first case of autonomous marriage in India, Bindu described her decision as an act of self-love. Speaking to the Times Of India she said: “I never wanted to get married. But I wanted to become a bride. So I decided to get married.”
Source: Clarin
