Mobile Dependence in Corona Times


We are all going through tough Corona Times in our country. It entails strict Lockdown conditions which of course are there to save our lives from infection.

After the initial panic conditions of stockpiling necessary and even unnecessary items, things settled down. One case I know is of a person purchasing 15 packs of washing powder (of 1kg each) and 20 cakes of bath soap apart from sacks of rice, daal, sugar and flour. It is persons like them who create an atmosphere of hysteria.

Well, there are essential items for which anxiety to some extent can be justified. Veggies, milk etc, are available in abundance; reason being various government initiatives and shut down of all restaurants, eateries and tea shops.

The lockdown is continuing and the sufferers are those who have had any appliance going kaput. A fan, a light, the water pump or any kitchen appliance not working is enough to wreck your peace during this lockdown period.

But you can find a solution by sleeping in another room, making chutney by hand instead of the mixi, etc.

The real sufferers, the people who deserve an award are those who have had their mobile phone giving up the ghost on them. You cannot go out to friends; neither can they come over in this lockdown. The mobile is the only connection to the world outside the walls of your home/flat.

Every family member has their own mobile nowadays and no one; repeat no one would share their mobile with anyone else in such circumstances as this. Including your wife, husband or children. 

According to the Indian Cellular & Electronics Association, there are at present 85 crore mobile phones in India.

Out of these about 0.25%  of  mobiles (amounting  to 2.5 crore phones) break or require some sort of repairs per month. The Association further states that out of these 2.5 crore phones, about 1.5 crore phones get repaired, but about 1 crore mobile phones are not repairable and have to be replaced by newer phones every month.

With the lockdown having completed more than a month, these 2.5 crore customers have lost contact with their friends, the social media; rather the whole outer world. Their contact with friends & relatives is solely dependent on their spouse/children having pity on them and allowing few seconds of mobile usage !

Some may want to give their phones to you, but with the prospect of they becoming mobile-less, you do not take up their offer. Some may have a spare phone, but getting it from them from a different town or a distant mohalla several km away in these courier less days is just not possible.

By the time the lockdown is opened up to facilitate opening of mobile repair shops & mobile selling, the figure of 2.5 crores may well be above 3 crores or even more.

The desperation of these affected persons can well be imagined.

Yours truly is also one of the affected. My mobile phone battery has conked out & I thus contribute to the statistics of the IC&EA !!

Comments

  1. Rashmi30 April 2020 at 01:49

    My washing machine(twin tub) conked out, one week in the lockdown, and the mechanic was not available and what with no outside help, it's been very tiresome. Any way my sympathies with Indra Mani, as is an avid whatapper, and it must be really painful. -renu

    ReplyDelete
  2. Manju13 May 2020 at 20:39

    मोबाइल फोन की वजह से हम लोग बाहरी दुनिया से जुड़े रह पा रहे हैं, ये सही है। मोबाइल फोन यदि खराब हो जाये तो हम स्वयं को बहुत बेबस, मजबूर, दुनिया से अलग थलग महसूस करने लगते हैं, यह एक विडंबना ही है।

    ReplyDelete

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