Anand Mahindra impressed by Maharashtra village that practises daily ‘digital detox’

Anand Mahindra tweeted about a Maharashtra village that enforces a daily 'no screen time' period, while noting that he himself wants to try out ‘digital detox’.

Businessman Anand Mahindra, known for his witty tweets and avid social media presence, was on Sunday, impressed by a Maharashtra village for practising daily ‘digital detox’ as he shared the ‘fascinating’ story with his Twitter followers, while noting that he himself was experimenting with the idea of limiting his screen time.

Businessman Anand Mahindra with his wife Anuradha. (AFP)

Taking to Twitter, the Mahindra Group chairman, shared a news report about a village located in Maharashtra’s Sangli district where people have imposed a self made societal sort of rule to observe a daily ‘no screen’ period starting 7 pm in a bid to tackle online addiction. With a population of around 3,000 people, the village even has a patrolling team which carries routine checks to ensure that the rule is being followed in every house in a bid to enhance people’s productivity and engage their time in something ‘more meaningful’.

The billionaire business magnate shared the news report documented by iTV news - a British news organisation and asked his followers if any of them have tried the same. “Fascinating. This could be a global trend-setter coming out of India. Do you think this could be sustained? Am in the process of experimenting with a daily detox window on a personal basis. Anyone tried it out?” he asked.

Sangli district’s Mohite Vadgaon villagers explaining their 90 minute daily detox practice, spoke to the news organisation about how the idea stemmed during the Covid-19 outbreak. The villagers here ring a siren sharp at 7’o clock following which no one is allowed to use any electronic devices. While many studies have suggested that increased screen time during the pandemic induced lock downs have had a negative impact on people’s physical and mental health, the initiative has also inculcated a culture of spending ‘quality’ time with the family members which the villagers really appreciate.

With Mahindra’s tweet, several people liked the idea, while some said they were already following the practice and have benefitted from it. In addition, some people also shared other possible versions of similar practices that could be followed. Among many replies, one read “A similar detox window should be followed by road users too by not using vehicles at least once a week and walking that day instead!”