It is an occasion for the hostel boarders to come together. Most of them are out in the steps, some in the common rooms and some in the corridors cursing loudly. One of the seniors is singing loudly in his deep baritone that is music to his ears only. Others gather around and begin a heated discussion.
The topic of discussion is the same: “What happened to the mobile network?”
Our story starts some two-three years ago when mobile phone companies started their services in the region. Earlier, owning a mobile phone was a privilege that was confined to a select few. As more companies arrived, the number of mobile phone users increased exponentially in direct proportion to the decrease in call rates and services.
The first casualty as a result of this boom was the hostel landline phone. No more tring-tring, only melodies of superhit songs. Our bridge of yesteryears to the outside world, our homes, our families and our girlfriends had fallen silent. No more shouts of “O ______ Dada, Phone ahise” rending throughout the hostel; no more of engrossed lovers who would have earlier been ready to live their whole day in front of the telephone. All of it became history when a landmark decision was reached in the monthly meeting: the landline phone would be cut off. The only legacy it left behind was the telephone bill which is kept as a national treasure for use in case of new mobile connections when it is desperately needed.
There is a saying in Hindi: ‘jahan chah, wahan raah’ – ‘where there is a will, there is a way’. Mobile phones paved the way for lovers to stay connected. At a given point of time, at least three to five persons would be in the hostel verandah and the garden occupying certain positions and moving around that particular place. This gave rise to a new word in hostel terminology – ‘Brownian Motion’ (inspired from the science textbooks). Thus, if a person is spending too much time on the phone while walking around in public view, he is said to be ‘Brownian di ase’.
My friend, who is an intern, is very happy. There is no way he can be traced when he has to attend his ward calls unless a person is sent for that specific purpose. The network ensures that he remains ‘out of range’ or ‘switched off’ even though he is within walking distance of the ward.
One of the mobile companies has launched such outrageously cheap schemes that people have grown spoilt while talking on the phone. One such scheme was the free scheme by Reliance. Reliance to Reliance free. This led to such a heavy congestion of Reliance users that calling a reliance number takes, on an average, half an hour. Add to that problems like inability to hear on one side, spontaneous cut-offs and a host of other problems. Yesterday, I received a rather funny message regarding this situation. “ Dhirubhai Ambani calls son Mukesh from heaven. ‘Beta, Reliance telecom kaisa chal raha hai?’ Mukesh replies ‘Sunai nahi de raha hai. Aap mere Airtel number me phone kijiye’”
On a serious note, though, mobile phones have changed the way we live – for better or worse- I don’t know. Its now the medium for asking about class schedules, for conversing with next door neighbours, for wooing girls (and maybe vice versa). Its something people cant live without. Its something…. Hey wait! Whats that shout of hurrah? Oh, the network is back. Well, gotta go now. May finish this piece when the network goes off again……
The topic of discussion is the same: “What happened to the mobile network?”
Our story starts some two-three years ago when mobile phone companies started their services in the region. Earlier, owning a mobile phone was a privilege that was confined to a select few. As more companies arrived, the number of mobile phone users increased exponentially in direct proportion to the decrease in call rates and services.
The first casualty as a result of this boom was the hostel landline phone. No more tring-tring, only melodies of superhit songs. Our bridge of yesteryears to the outside world, our homes, our families and our girlfriends had fallen silent. No more shouts of “O ______ Dada, Phone ahise” rending throughout the hostel; no more of engrossed lovers who would have earlier been ready to live their whole day in front of the telephone. All of it became history when a landmark decision was reached in the monthly meeting: the landline phone would be cut off. The only legacy it left behind was the telephone bill which is kept as a national treasure for use in case of new mobile connections when it is desperately needed.
There is a saying in Hindi: ‘jahan chah, wahan raah’ – ‘where there is a will, there is a way’. Mobile phones paved the way for lovers to stay connected. At a given point of time, at least three to five persons would be in the hostel verandah and the garden occupying certain positions and moving around that particular place. This gave rise to a new word in hostel terminology – ‘Brownian Motion’ (inspired from the science textbooks). Thus, if a person is spending too much time on the phone while walking around in public view, he is said to be ‘Brownian di ase’.
My friend, who is an intern, is very happy. There is no way he can be traced when he has to attend his ward calls unless a person is sent for that specific purpose. The network ensures that he remains ‘out of range’ or ‘switched off’ even though he is within walking distance of the ward.
One of the mobile companies has launched such outrageously cheap schemes that people have grown spoilt while talking on the phone. One such scheme was the free scheme by Reliance. Reliance to Reliance free. This led to such a heavy congestion of Reliance users that calling a reliance number takes, on an average, half an hour. Add to that problems like inability to hear on one side, spontaneous cut-offs and a host of other problems. Yesterday, I received a rather funny message regarding this situation. “ Dhirubhai Ambani calls son Mukesh from heaven. ‘Beta, Reliance telecom kaisa chal raha hai?’ Mukesh replies ‘Sunai nahi de raha hai. Aap mere Airtel number me phone kijiye’”
On a serious note, though, mobile phones have changed the way we live – for better or worse- I don’t know. Its now the medium for asking about class schedules, for conversing with next door neighbours, for wooing girls (and maybe vice versa). Its something people cant live without. Its something…. Hey wait! Whats that shout of hurrah? Oh, the network is back. Well, gotta go now. May finish this piece when the network goes off again……
