In Kashmir homes, screen time squeezing out family time

Srinagar, Oct 11: It is nine in the evening in Kashmir’s traditional kitchen-cum living room and the television is on. However, no one is watching it. The father scrolls through his phone, the mother too.

The teenager is chatting, sharing reels and a younger child is glued to incessant high-energy videos that flaunt new toys, new styles, new destinations visited. Nobody speaks for hour. The only spoken words are about pressing chores – dinner, homework.

This is the new age reality in a growing number of homes in Kashmir and globally. Everyone still lives together, even sits together, but…