To own or not to own a TV ?

That has been the question for a long time. 4 years to be precise. And yet what started out to be a stupid decision became one of the wisest.

Wouldn't you be surprised / shocked if I told you that we haven't owned a TV yet ? Well, most people do react that way. It all started when LP and I got married. Since we were starting a new journey and since a new life beckoned we cautiously planned on getting the right things for our home to make it perfect.

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Our first year was spent in a rental apartment in India. We didn't have any furniture in the apartment other than an arm rest chair and a bed. The place was otherwise well furnished so that took care of our needs for interior cabinets and wardrobes. We planned to buy our own home at the end of the first year thus putting off the need for detailed interiors. Our lives were pretty busy too. With both of us working full-time, we often returned home at evening hours to cook, relax and get ready for the next day. Weekends would be spent on the household chores, my dance class, outings, errands etc. such that watching TV was the last thing on our wish list. Since my parents stayed nearby, an occasional visit to their place would fulfill our "idiot box" cravings. :-p

The second year, when we moved to our owned apartment, we often dreamt the place would be filled with the right amount of stuff at the right places. Nothing garish, nothing over the top. And thus began our wait for the perfect, exquisite interiors. Now we did have the basic furniture setup thanks to the house warming gifts that we got and the string of relatives / friends we knew we would invite over. But still TV was never on the mind. We progressed to getting a good Internet connection and lots of good movie collections provided by friends for entertainment. To this day, we still have movies lying idle on our hard disks / laptop waiting to be picked up and watched. :-D

We finally purchased a flat screen TV at the end of the 2nd year only to abandon it at home 3 months later due to the onset of the abroad trip.

The last 2 years have been a whirlwind affair with us moving to the US for work and relocating every few months for new assignments. Let me tell you, if there was an award for packing/moving then LP and I would be the proud owners of that award - hands-down, thanks to the sort of vast experience that we gained in the last year. I should also mention the lovely friends we made at every place. Planning family dinners and get-togethers has helped us connect with people and get to know them better which I am sure watching TV would never have achieved. This doesn't mean that we never watched movies ! :-p If you have a bunch of people, a movie projector and good speakers, you never need to own a TV. ;-)

And now, more and more couples share experiences of how their kids are addicted to watching TV and how difficult it is to wean them off. I would love my kids to read and ponder over amazing books and their enchanting characters rather than fixate their eyes over a meaningless reality show.

Now there are exceptions when we talk about classic sitcoms and shows but they don't come into picture until later life. :)

At the end of it all, I am glad that we didn't make an impulsive purchase back then because if we had, then I wouldn't have focused on my other interests. :)

So are you a pro-TV or anti-TV person ?