Preaching the Internet to the Skeptics

have wired Taradand with breathtaking speed. Two years ago, Mr. Neti counted 1,000 mobile phones in the village, which has 2,500 people.

Those who work in development tend to speak of this moment as a civilizational breakthrough, of particular significance in a country aching to educate its children. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has made expanding internet use a central goal, shifting government services onto digital platforms.

When Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, toured India in 2014, he told audiences that for every 10 people who get online, “one person gets lifted out of poverty and one new job gets created.”

So it is instructive to follow Mr. Neti as he tries to drum up a little interest in Taradand. Only young men use the internet here in Taradand, and almost exclusively to circulate Bollywood films. Older people view it as a conduit for pornography and other wastes of time.

Women are not allowed access even to simple mobile phones, for fear they will engage in illicit relationships; the internet is out of the question. Illiterate people — almost everyone over 40 — dismiss it as not intended for them.

But Mr. Neti persists. “It’s the internet age,” he said. “One day they’ll all come around.”

Mr. Neti finds it maddening that, in a region whose farmers are desperate to educate their children, his neighbors regard the internet largely as a way to watch movies. “The villagers do not yet understand,” he said.

At moments of discouragement, Mr. Neti recalls that Taradand has accepted another technology. Fifteen years ago, when people began using mobile phones, his neighbors were elated. They were more efficient in everything they did.

It was no longer necessary to make long journeys to inform relatives of family news. Before going to market, farmers could call around to compare prices.

Even Mr. Neti’s uncle, Siya Ram Singh Gond, shook his head gravely at finally realizing how long they had lived without these tools. “So much time was wasted,” he said.

Once in a while, Mr. Neti feels he is close to similar breakthroughs with the internet. Recently, his father mentioned wanting to visit a district office to check the boundary of his land. Mr. Neti checked Google on his smartphone and held it up. His father peered at the property lines that Mr. Neti was showing him, accessible on the district office website, and approved. “The boundaries were there,” he said. “It was all correct.”

Within hours, he performed the same service for a number of neighboring farmers.

“It was a very happy moment for me,” Mr. Neti said. “My father also realized this was no ordinary instrument.”