Stone age

India may boast widespread mobile phone coverage but the advent of advanced communication technology has not necessarily rid its users of superstition. Just ahead of the new year, a rumour did the rounds of a UP town to the effect that anyone who went to sleep on the night of January 1 would be turned to stone. As a result, people stayed awake all night and phoned their relatives in order to wake them up. People are still trying to find out who started the rumour. One theory is that it’s the mobile companies and another is that it’s the TV channels since the TRP ratings for the cricket in Australia were low because of the time differences and so they hoped to get a good story.