Much
has been said of India’s rise in the last twenty years, and if there is one
success story that cannot be denied, it is the mobile revolution in India. Our one
true success story.
And
while the Congress keeps attributing it to Rajiv Gandhi’s Computer or TV
revolution, the true champion was this Finnish company that made phones that
Indians could relate to.
Personally,
I got into the game very early. I was doing wonderful, in a atlas made cycle attending
Physics, chemistry & Maths Tutions that time.
It
was 2004, When I finally got my first cell phone. The phone was a Nokia 3310.
There were however games like Snake, Bounce on the phone and once I learnt of the
magic number (*#06# & *#0000#), there was no stopping me. I
looked into my phone every few seconds, typing messages, deleting them and
typing them again.
Its
2013 now. Microsoft takeover Nokia. It was difficult to digest, being a
lifelong Nokia fan boy.
As
Nokia is sold, it is not difficult to understand why the brand was such a rage
in India. Like Bata, the other brand that is surprisingly not Indian, it serve
the Indian customer’s needs. Sturdy, long lasting, cheap. It could run for days
in a country when power was not a daily commodity. It provided communication
and safety, and in the worst case scenario, you could throw the phone pointing enemy’s
head, and be guaranteed of a bleeding!
And
now, once you buy a smartphone, it is a never-ending spiral. There is no peace
of mind. Just when you work out the best phone in your budget, there will be
this new phone that does everything your phone does, and masturbates you when
you’re bored. A never-ending spiral that goes on and on, on and on.
And
today, when the world is flooded with phones that can do everything under the
sun, and some over the moon, I am reminded of the days…..
When
the first thing you saw on your phone were those two hands connecting to each
other. And the next hour would be spent in deciding the ringtone.
When a little blinking snake was my companion in times of boredom.
When
missed calls became the communication code of a generation. When the only thing
you needed on your phone to look cool was that sticker at the back, which
glowed when there was a call coming.
To
the time when I would wait for the sticker to glow, to send a flash message. To
set my favourite song, reinterpreted in monophonic tones, as my ringtone. The
secret indulgence of setting a separate ringtone for my girlfriend, so that I
would know when it was her calling.
To
the time when the words ‘incoming’ and ‘outgoing’ made a world of difference.
Running to a shop, buying a small card, scratching it eagerly, squinting into
it, dialing a number, and smiling.
To
the times of college, and first loves.
It has been a long, eventful journey, my friend.
You
have been taken over by a company that is not really known for its aesthetics,
but reaches out to the most number of people in the world. Much like you did,
at one time.
I
now wish I could turn the time around and go back to you again. My life at
present is not bad at all. But then there is something…
Something that makes me want to run back
in time. But no matter how hard I wish to go back in time, the truth is that I
can’t do so.
I
don’t really know if I am going to use you again. But when I look at the ‘Low
Battery’ message on my phone, I think of you longingly.
You
were a good friend.
