At 10:50 AM every day, a Bengal village stands still for 52 seconds

Setting a novel example, people of this nondescript village in Nadia district stops all works for 52 seconds at 10.50 am every weekday to sing the National Anthem. People at home and those in moving motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, cycles and pedestrians on road stand still wherever they are and start singing.

At that particular hour, students of the state run Abhainagar Primary School sing the 52-second-long National Anthem and it is echoed to nearby areas through loudspeakers.

“We thought this would instill patriotism among the students and the people. We had requested the villagers, wherever they are, to sing the national anthem along with their children at the school. They agreed and the practice continues,” said the school Headmaster Safikul Islam.

A loudspeaker has been fitted around 100 feet away from the school building and those who hear the National Anthem being sung through it, join the chorus, Islam said.

“I and two others were passing by the school with crops on our head on Wednesday. At that time we heard the National Anthem in the loudspeaker. We stopped walking and started to sing along. It felt good,” said 50-year-old farmer Maijuddin Biswas, reports PTI.

Narsina Bibi cooks midday meal in the school. “When the bell rings for the National Anthem, I stand up,” she said.