‘Quietly Taken Over The World’: Bengaluru Entrepreneur Says He Saw The Same Phone Habit Everywhere In Just 20 Minutes

A Bengaluru entrepreneur has shared an observation from his early morning trip that started a conversation about how often people use their phones. What stood out to him was that, in just a few minutes, he saw several people doing the same thing, scrolling through reels.

He said the experience made him feel that short videos have become a part of everyday life, no matter where people are or what they are doing. Many social media users agreed with his view and shared similar experiences.

He Noticed The Same Habit Everywhere

Aaditya Aanand, founder and CEO of Multibagg AI, shared the story in a post on X. He said he usually rides his bike to his badminton court at 6:40 am, but on that day, he decided to book an auto instead.

The auto arrived quickly,

but something unexpected happened. The driver did not call him or seem upset even though he took some time to come downstairs. “To my surprise, driver neither called me nor he was angry when I went downstairs. He was busy scrolling reels,” Aanand wrote.

The Pattern Continued On The Way

During the ride, they stopped at a traffic signal near his home. Aanand said the driver tried to cross before the light turned red but could not make it. As they waited for the signal to change, he noticed a woman driving a Tata Nexon in the next lane.

“The lady driving must be in her early 30s. She turned off her engine, picked her phone and started scrolling reels,” he recalled.

He Saw It Again At The Sports Complex

After reaching the badminton court, Aanand went to the reception to ask for the court number. He said the receptionist, an elderly man around his father’s age, did not respond at first because he was also looking at his phone.

“I went to reception to ask about the court number. An old uncle who was of my father’s age was sitting there. He didn’t respond in the first time. He had held his phone to his eye level and was busy scrolling reels,” he wrote.

He then noticed another similar moment inside the sports complex. One player was waiting for his turn while four others were playing doubles. Instead of watching the match, the man was looking at his phone.

“It was 6:55 am. This court was probably booked by 5 people from 6 to 7 am. 4 were playing doubles and the 5th guy was waiting. He wasn’t bothered about watching the game, he was busy scrolling reels,” he said. After seeing the same thing several times in less than 20 minutes, Aanand ended his post by writing, “Reels have quietly taken over the world.”

I live in Bengaluru. I leave for badminton every day at 6:40 am on my bike. But I booked an auto to the court today. It is Indiranagar, auto arrived within minutes but I was still getting ready. To my surprise, driver neither called me nor he was angry when I went downstairs. He…

— Aaditya Aanand (@biased_human) July 28, 2026

Users Shared Their Own Experiences

Many people said they could relate to Aanand’s observations and spoke about how social media has become a daily habit. One user wrote, “think mobiles have taken control, we should start ‘fasting’ by being without them couple of times in a day, when we walk / exercise/ lunches / dinners etc.”

Another commented, “One of the rules i follow without fail is to putoff the wifi and keep the phone atleast 1 mtr away from my bed before i head to sleep. Result – dark circles started healing, eye sight improved, long sleep hours and feel fresh in the morning.”

A third user wrote, “The brain rot of Instagram is a real curse. So many of my hours have been wasted. I’m working actively to cut down my Instagram and over all Social Media addiction.” Another person shared, “It’s been 5 months since I am off that app, and I have started to feel better, see better and hold conversations. Though Twitter and reddit have taken its space, still much better than the doomscrolling mayhem on insta.”

One more user added, “Not just reels. I see people picking up the phone to see any notifications every few minutes- so many notifications flooding our screens every second. And some of them may actually be important because a lot of stuff gets done on the phone now.”