{ This post was originally written for the website: Scroll360 }
Hindustan Times a newspaper daily that has been running in India
since the past 9 decades started an initiative in Mumbai called ‘The No
TV day’ two years back. Mumbai is the only city in the world that
celebrates such a day! This year the ‘No TV Day’ was celebrated on
the 1st June. HT claimed it was bigger and better than the
previous two years. In just the initial one week, there were almost 72,000 likes on
the Facebook Page of the campaign taking the total fan base to 3.2
lakhs. On 28th May twitter, the micro blogging site saw #onnotvdayiwill trending as the No.1 topic not just nationally but worldwide.
What is this Day?
Under this campaign, Hindustan Times solicits the Mumbaikars to do
something that might sound quixotic to a lot of us. On a pre-decided day
every year, it wants us to switch off our television sets, get out in
the city and spend some quality time with our family and friends.
Why the need?
On contemplating we realize that we waste a lot of our potential time
sitting in front of the idiot box and watching useless daily soaps,
saas bahu sagas, fixed cricket matches and scripted reality shows!
Every Monday as the week starts, we crib that our weekend just went
away leaving behind umpteen uncompleted tasks. We have an endless To Do List
which has more and more additions than tick offs. Not only have we
entitled ourselves to a lot of delayed tasks but also to a life that is
just going on and on. Our lives have become completely entwined with
work. So much so that we fail to take time off for the people who matter
to us.
There are so many things the city has to offer to its people. If you
are an architecture fan you can go about exploring the historic
structures and heritage buildings in South Mumbai. If you are a
connoisseur of Food, you can relish the food in every nook and corner of
the city. If you are a shopping buff you can indulge yourself in
various street shopping destinations in the city. And finally, if you
wish to spend some quality time with family, you can make an early
morning escape to places on the outskirts of the city.
With this initiative HT is not just expecting people to switch off
the idiot box, sit idle and get frustrated. They planned a lot of
interesting, fun filled activities for the citizens. Dance and Baking
Workshops, Comedy Shows, Heritage Bus tours of the city, Art Workshops,
Painting competitions, Trekking Activities, BMX Stunt Shows, Helicopter
Rides and much more. To know more about them, click here. Also, they partnered with 54 restaurants across the city to offer you exciting discounts.
This year Hindustan Times planned to form the longest Human Chain
at Carter Road Promenade, Bandra to support the cause of a Greener
Mumbai. A lot of Advanced Locality Managements like Carter Road ALM,
Ambedkar Road ALM, Hill Road ALM Veronica Road ALM etc. participated in the event.
But if nothing of the above picks your interest, you could laze around
at home. Play board games with family, read a book, catch up on a latest
movie in a nearby multiplex, relax yourself with a SPA session, clean
up your wardrobe or meet up old friends and reminisce about the good
days.
So folks I hope you are ready to 'Switch off the idiot box and Switch on your Lives' on the next NO TV DAY!!
Switch off your TV, and I am sure many other problems will be solved... Good initiative.
ReplyDeleteSounds great...i so wish Delhi has that too...
ReplyDelete