A VILLAGE SHOWS THE WAY

A small hamlet in Maharashtra takes a collective break from TV and smartphone screens to rediscover the simple pleasures of life

- DHAVAL KULKARNI

EVERY EVENING, AT SEVEN SHARP, A SIREN ATOP THE BHAIRAVNATH TEMPLE IN Mohityanche Vadgaon, a village in Maharashtra's Sangli district around 350 km from state capital Mumbai, blares for a full 45 seconds. The sound of sirens is nothing unusual here in the state's sugar mill belt, where they signal the start of the work shift or its end every day. But the 7 pm temple siren comes bearing a different cue for Mohityanche Vadgaon's residents. Earlier, when they needed to wind down after a hard day’s work, they would scroll through social media, watching the latest prime-time show or daily soap operas on the TV. Not anymore. Now, as the evening siren goes off, the villagers, mostly farmers or sugar mill workers, have to get off their screens, be it the television or mobile phone, for the next hour and a half. Children can use the time to study, youngsters can read, or people can simply spend some quality time with each other or with their families. It has been nine months now since the 3,500odd residents of the village have been practising this daily ‘digital detox’, so much so that it has inspired the neighbouring villages to follow suit.