MOBILE MANIA
T. Krishnan
The mobile
telephone is probably no longer a status symbol, now that even a vegetable
vendor on the street has one. But the
obsessive manner in which the mobile phone is being constantly used everywhere
makes one wonder if we have entered an addictive phase or even a manic
phase. Let me recount my experience on
mobile phone use in just one day, when I took a flight from Bangalore to
Kolkata via Hyderabad.
In the
forty-minute taxi drive to Bangalore airport, the driver received seven calls
and made two calls himself on his mobile phone. Thus he was mostly driving with one hand and was most of the time
talking with someone. When I objected
to this and admonished him, he pointed out that in many cars rolling in the
opposite direction the drivers were similarly engaged and who were, according
to him, ‘people like you’. I did not
know what it exactly meant, but these were suited-booted ‘gentlemen’ presumably
driving their own cars. I must say I
was far from suited-booted myself! My
expostulation that others violating the law does in no way give him the right
to do so himself did not cut any ice with him.
Eventually, I
reached the airport and checked in to my flight to Kolkata via Hyderabad. Of course, the lounge, the coffee shop, the
bookshop, the passenger- holding bay, the bus taking passengers to the
aircraft, etc. were full of passengers and others on their respective mobile
phones. Mobile phone use continued even
inside the aircraft. The stewardess
announced that mobile phones had to be switched off once the aircraft doors
closed. But this was largely
ignored. My neighbour bound for
Hyderabad was on his two mobile phones continually from the time I saw him
sitting next to me. He was speaking
very loudly in Telugu giving a running commentary on the flight preparations,
talking about the frequent flyer miles he had accumulated, and such weighty
matters which presumably could not wait for the flight to land in
Hyderabad. He stopped only when
passengers sitting in front objected.
Even then he
did not turn off either of the two mobile phones. He had them one in each hand right through the flight and even
refused the offer of refreshments lest he had to let them out from his hands. His hands were itching and he was constantly
playing with the keys, although he did not quite have the courage to actually
dial someone. But right through the
flight I could hear other mobile phones in the cabin ring and phone-like conversations
taking place.
Eventually
the announcement came that we were about to land in Hyderabad— about ten
minutes before we actually touched down; again passengers were asked not to use
mobile phones until after the doors opened. Now my neighbour started dialing
and I could even hear a ring. I was
upset and told him about the announcement; I explained in a combination of my
limited Telugu and English that it will interfere with aircraft navigation and
communication, and may even cause our aircraft and other aircraft to crash. He responded by saying that there would be
no ‘crash-vrash’ since he was only calling from the left-hand phone to the
right-hand phone; it would not interfere with anything since it would only go
from here to there—he drew an arc from the left antenna to the right antenna to
show the path the call would take!
Eventually I
reached Kolkata, checked into a hotel and went to the coffee shop. At the table across from me were sitting
three men, each with a mobile phone; in fact, one of them had two. Right through, they were calling various
people and were talking what appeared to me to be nothing terribly
earth-shaking or urgent. It was nearing
midnight and now the numbers they dialed did not seem to respond. Soon they seemed to have run out of numbers
to dial and they were silent. For a
while I diverted my attention elsewhere, but they started talking again. Something seemed peculiar and strange, and
it took me a while to figure out what it was.
They were talking to each other on their mobile phones! All three could
participate since one of them had two phones!!
The inconsiderate use of mobile phones in meetings, music concerts and
trains is an irritating experience and regular nuisance. It seems, in France theatres are allowed to
install jamming equipment to stop all but emergency calls. People should not need a law to tell them to
be courteous and avoid all public annoyance.
Cultured people put their phones on vibrate alert or turn them off. Every one has a right to some peace and
silence -Editor