And one more bday came and went. Lots of wishes, lots of
calls. Good to talk to so many friends on the same day. I feel good that at
least on this day, my mobile battery gets spent on the actual functionality for
which the mobile was designed - call and text, rather than on listening to FM
and music.
Looking back, i feel quite amused as to how we manage to
survive without this electronic gadget. These days, it doesnt matter where a
person is located? just dial his mobile number and talk to him. If there s not
much to talk, just text him to convey the short message. Cities has grown, it
is practically not possible to go and meet friends and relatives easily. Not
that it was easy before, but the lifestyle too has changed now. I still
remember my first year of engg. Mobile was just making its entry into indian
market then and it was a expensive device. Even the incoming call was as
expensive as 16/- per min. Only Airtel was offering the service then. I was
staying in a room in mysore. Owner was in ground floor and our room was in 1st
floor. My mother used to call to the land line number in owner's house and the
maid used to shout from the window. I had to rush down, wait beside the phone
sitting on a sofa till my mom called again.
Monsoon season is very tricky in mysore. One can hardly
predict whether it will rain on that day looking at the sky. It would start
raining all of a sudden and sometimes wont stop for hours together. One fine
day, when me and my roomate went out for first time after joining the college
in 1st sem, it started raining cats n dogs. We had to wade thru knee deep water
thru the center of city to reach the city bus stand (majestic of mysore), catch
the bus and reach our room. It was not too late and so i wasnt worried much
after reaching our destination. Vignesh, my roomie, quickly rushed upstairs and
i was following him when i heard the maid shout out my name from the window. I
was dripping all over and certainly didnt quite feel like taking a call from
home at this situation. I stood in front of door. As soon as she opened it, she
started questionaire. Apparantely, my mom had called some 3-4 times in eve and
was eager to know where i had been. Being still new guys, and that too jst out
of teenage, there was certain amount of apprehension in owner's mind. So there
was a huge burden on us to convince them that we are not smokers/drinkers or
making-merry-on-dad's-money kind of guys. I told her that i will change and
come back. After 20mins, when my mom called, i spoke to her and there wasnt
even a small degree of worry in her voice since she knows me very well. Since
it was the first time i went out, she wasnt quite used to know that "I
can/need to go out". If only i had the mobile then there was no need for
the maid to show off her attitude, nor i had to listen to her and answer her
questionaire.
It was only in 3rd sem that i got my first mobile. It was a
great relief for me as well as my roomie since we could talk to our family
sitting in room itself. All we need to do was give a missed call to dad's
mobile and within a couple of mins, the mobile would ring. It was definitely a
great relief. As time progressed, more and more functionalites got added to the
small hand held gadget. Now it is hard to see people sans their earphones
plugged to their ears. Whether they listen to FM/Music all day long? I wonder.
And for girls, there are only 3 things. Either they will be talking to
companion (girl/boy) who are with them, talking on mobile or listen to FM if
they r alone.
(To be continued.... )
No comments:
Post a Comment