India, Dec. 2 -- Being called vehla (idle) in Punjab is usually an insult - a shorthand for laziness, drift and wasted time. But in Moga's Gholia Khurd village, the word has been rehabilitated, repackaged and turned into a medal-worthy talent. Here, doing absolutely nothing is no longer a flaw - it is a competitive sport, a social experiment, and an oddly mesmerising public spectacle.

Fifty-five contestants - husbands and wives, grandparents and grandchildren, young men and elderly women - have gathered under one roof for an unusual endurance test of stillness: the Vehle Rehan da Competition, where participants sit for hours without phones, without movement, without washroom breaks and without distractions. The last person to remain seat...