Monika’s Musings: Living with cellphones

July 22, 2016

Cellphones: can we even imagine our lives without them now? They penetrated the East much faster than the West. Years ago, I remember visiting the US and expressing surprise since people rarely texted each other. In India, text messages had quickly become the rage and the best means of communication. It has now been replaced by Whatsapp. Speaking of which, Americans rarely Whatsapp, believing it to be an intrusion of privacy. When I first moved here, I Whatsapped a few American friends who were not too responsive, preferring I text instead! Imagine they miss out on the joy of those high school Whatsapp groups where 54 people send jokes, forwards and personal opinions to get 54 emojis in response! My children actually keep family chats on silent because of the ridiculous traffic on them and I have to periodically prod them to respond.

Since most of my chat groups are India-based, I have a nice lullaby through my night since that’s when India is awake. Anyone sharing my room is always disturbed but I have been able to mentally tune out the beeps and sounds. Putting my phone on silent is unheard of because I have FOMO. When I wake up in the middle of the night to tinkle in the bathroom, I invariably reach for my phone and furiously start texting my responses regardless of the insane hour. Yes, it is a life-and-death situation! Koi shak? There have been times I lost my phone or it was stolen and then it’s like an appendage of my body has been chopped. Recently I dropped my phone and the screen shattered. I was devastated. Luckily I found a company that sold iphone replacement screens and it was fixed pretty quickly. But I still had to do without my phone for an entire week. It was stressful!

In the US, cellphones can be ridiculously expensive. We get all sorts of cheaper versions in India and if our phones malfunction, fixing it is never an issue. There is an entire small scale industry that has sprung up just to service your cellphone. It is quite different here. Since I have an iPhone, I am charged simply for breathing the air in the Apple store. But seriously, each little thing costs an arm and a leg. And if I do not get a package deal, these little things can clean out the wallet. I like the unlocked phones in India because that way I can get a sim card for any place I travel without having to rely only on wifi or paying ridiculous roaming charges.

One thing is for sure, cellphones have made commuting and travel easier. Flight delayed? A text will warn you. Late for your flight? Check in online? And be environmentally-friendly by getting a mobile boarding pass. Stuck at the airport? Pass time with your cellphone. Children bothering you on that long journey? Hand them a phone. I have all kinds of apps on my phone to make my life more convenient. Need a last-minute reservation? Let’s see what Open Table has? Need a salon in the area? Hello Yelp. How about a cab? Take your pick? Uber? Lyft? Gett? Via? I have Kindle for cellphone and even have an app called Daily Water to remind me to drink my eight glasses of water a day. Need to assemble some furniture? Task Rabbit to the rescue. Need to translate a foreign language and merci iHandy Translator. Google maps is a savior and along with NJ transit and NYC subway apps, helps me get to appointments on time. And my photography skills have far exceeded my expectations thanks to PS Express and LiveCollage.

My morning commute is so crowded; I do not get a seat for the first 10 minutes. Since I find it difficult to reach for my reading glasses, hold on to my laptop bag and keep my balance, I generally stand and observe my fellow passengers. No one else is looking around. Each and every person is engrossed on their phones. Just a few are sleeping or actually reading physical books. In fact ‘cool dudes reading’ is one of my favourite Instagram posts. Unfortunately, I never seem to see that ‘cool dude.’ The guys on Instagram are generally droolworthy. Ah well. One day may be!

In the meantime, back to my observation and it still never ceases to surprise me at how these little instruments have dramatically changed how we approach life. In India too, I observe people at airports and notice most of them are busy on their phones. It has been a while since I travelled on the Churchgate-Bandra local but I wonder if cellphones have replaced the women who chop and cut their veggies, exchange gossip about their mothers-in-law and form a women’s support group. And do the men still while time playing cards, trade business secrets and surreptitiously eye the women on the train? Somehow I doubt this happens anymore.

Oh, got to go, my CNN app has breaking news about Brexit.

Monika Patel – Monique to her friends – is now a permanent resident of New York City, but her heart is permanently in Pune, her home for 28 years. Monika’s Musings appears every Friday on Pune365.