OUT OFTHE BOX

Kishore Majgaonkar has vivid memories of the day his wife, Lalita, unplugged the television and put it away on the loft 12 years ago.

More and more couples are opting for television-free lives

Kishore Majgaonkar has vivid memories of the day his wife, Lalita, unplugged the television and put it away on the loft 12 years ago. 8220;There was too much time being spent watching television even though the only channels being telecast back then were DD1 and DD2, and that annoyed her no end,8221; laughs Kishore. The Majgaonkar household has not since bothered to reinstate 8220;idiot box8221; and nor do they miss it. The Majgaonkars may have been 8220;unusual8221; a decade ago but today, they won8217;t find themselves alone as many young couples are following suit and ditching the idiot box for8220; a better lifestyle8221;. When Richa and Mohit Kathuria got married ayear ago, one of the three TVs owned by the joint family was promptly moved to their room.

Though busy with their careers, they would spend their free time flipping through the channels. But after a few months the TV went for repair and they never bothered to bring it back into their bedroom. 8220;Today, it shocks me when over family get-togethers, which are anyway rare, people prefer to discuss TV shows than chat up8212;it8217;s becomea tool of judgement,8221; remarks Mohit.

Like the Kathurias, Jinita and Himanshu Kode also happened to chance upon this phenomenon. After moving into a new apartment, the couple postponed the purchase of a TV set due to financial constraints but realised that they don8217;t really miss it. 8220;Not only have we invested that money but also our time,8221; says Jinita, as she readies to leave for a weekend trip to Alibaug. 8220;I think we would have wasted this weekend watching TV if we had one.8221;

A few couples, on the other hand, took calculative measures to throw the 8220;evil8221; out of their lives.

Prapti Dangwal and Sandeep Suvarna are one. They have planned to get rid of their TV before they get married next year. Dangwal, an advertising professional, was a TV buff but decided that they had to do away with the 8220;junk box8221; because, given their work schedules, they cannot afford to compromise their couple time. She does miss TV at times but makes up for it by watching films on her laptop. But it was no big deal for Dinesh Narayanan, a media professional, when he decided to junk his set in 2000 8212; it was eating into his reading time. However, he wasn8217;t sure how his fianceacute; would react to a television-free lifestyle. But

Archana Choudhary played a sport and decided to test it out only to realise that it gives her enough time to cook and pursue singing 8212; activities she thought she never had time for. Jinita too, claims that her culinary skills can be attributed to the missing TV set.

Story continues below this ad

The couples accept that there are times.when they miss the tube, 8220;especially when there8217;s important news or an interesting match on8221; but Choudhary sums up the benefits when she remarks, 8220;We are better off than others 8212; at least our lives aren8217;t ruled bycommercial breaks8221;.