A brave new world

As a kid, my bed time was 8.00 p.m. and I'd struggle to stay up till 8.30 p.m. to watch the I Love Lucy show every Wednesday. But that wa...

As a kid, my bed time was 8.00 p.m. and I8217;d struggle to stay up till 8.30 p.m. to watch the I Love Lucy show every Wednesday. But that was before the great invasion from the sky. Now I spent evenings zombie-like in front of the TV. It doesn8217;t matter that at the end of the day I8217;m humming some irritating ad film jingle or for most of the evening have said 8220;boring8221; and 8220;seen it.8221; I just watch. And there must be many more like me 8211; for evenings without TV stretch out long and barren.

But some people are doing the unthinkable 8211; they8217;re doing without! Like Ruchita Kurne and husband Deodutta. When they shifted to their own bungalow last year, a TV didn8217;t come with them. 8220;We have a big garden now and just don8217;t feel the need for a TV,8221; she says. Her children, 12-year-old Devika and seven-year-old Arjun, are home by 4.00 p.m. and spend their evenings cycling, gardening and reading. They are in no hurry to finish their homework, believes Ruchita, so the quality of their work is better.

She doesn8217;t feel that the kids compare things with friends. 8220;In fact,8221; she says, 8220;my friend8217;s son had come over and said that he wanted to get rid of his TV at home! I was quite pleased.8221; The couple reads to unwind. 8220;Perhaps we are missing out on some things but I don8217;t think so.8221;

Not having a TV also gives the family more time together. 8220;We eat together in the evenings at the table rather than in front of the TV, so we talk more,8221; explains Ruchita.

This is one of the reasons why Reena and Shekhar Bhonagiri opted out of owning a TV. 8220;TV kills family life. Not having one gives us more quality time with the kids. It means that there are more fun things we can do,8221; says Reena.

The fun things that the Bhonagiris do are very outdoorsy.8217; Says Reena, 8220;We camp overnight at the Khadakwasla and Panshet lakes. Ours are outdoor kids 8211; they go for skating, karate and swimming during the week. I believe that kids should be outside in the fresh air in the evenings.8221; The Bhonagiris are very keen that their kids read. They have and buy a lot of books. 8220;Shekhar especially wants them to read. He tells them a lot of stories. My son, Dhruv, loves reading and solving jigsaw puzzles. Damini prefers to do the jigsaw on the computer,8221; she says.

Do they mind not having a TV? 8220;Not at all,8221; says Reena, 8220;We don8217;t need the hum of the TV. It is possible to live without it. My daughter does mind it sometimes. There is some peer pressure and she is into Hindi film music these days. But it8217;s just too bad. She knows we don8217;t like it. quot;But I also think it is wrong to stop it completely 8211; so I allow them to watch an hour of cartoons a day at my mother-in-law8217;s. However, I prefer them to work on the computer because I think it is more interactive. It makes you think.8221; Shekhar and Reena also spend time on the computer because this is their source of news.

Story continues below this ad

The decision to do without a TV was a deliberate one for them, unlike the Karves, who discovered the pleasures of television-less home quite by chance. Explains Shaila, 8220;We did have a TV but then it stopped working and was at the repair shop for two months. I got accustomed to the peace and quiet. Life was much happier without fights over the TV.8221; Her sons, just back from boarding school, didn8217;t seem to mind either. Although her younger son now feels that they should be given the choice to watch or not.

They spend time on the computer, reading the newspaper and studying. Shaila has grown accustomed to working to FM radio music although she admits she used to be quite an addict at one time. 8220;Now I find the programmes quite stupid.8221;

Vibha and Krishna Devarbhavi have also chosen to walk the TV-less way. Says Vibha, 8220;I am a freelance journalist and stay at home a lot. I didn8217;t want to end up watching TV the whole day.8221; Her assignments 8211; short stories and poetry 8211; keep her busy at her computer. She admits that she does get bored sometimes and wishes she did have a TV, but Krishna doesn8217;t miss it at all. Her comfort is that her parents live close by and she can pop over whenever she wants. The TV8217;s absence, however, means that Krishna and she spend a lot of time together. After work, they chat, play scrabble, go out walking and meet friends.

An altogether nicer way to spend a day, methinks.