A Journey from R220 to S5233

One fine afternoon, at around 3PM I returned home from college. Everyone was sitting on the double-bed. There was excitement in the eyes of all the three persons sitting on the bed – my father, mother and younger brother. I couldn’t guess what it was but I was sure that there is some surprise in store. But what was it, I was unable to guess.

I sat on the chair near the lakdi ka sandook (as it was called). My brother opened the almirah and brought a box and gave it to me. I was shocked and surprised. It was a mobile phone. Samsung R220 – a blue-silver body and jazzy blue display with an Escotel sim card. I was happy, very very happy.

I used to take it to college but was not allowed to call or receive any call. Those were the days, when incoming was also charged. But within a month’s time Airtel was also launched in UP and little later telecom reforms came making incoming free and call charges very less.
There were very few people in my college who had a mobile phone in their pockets. I was one of them. I was happy about that, but more than me my friends were happy.

The days passed and the mobiles became usual and casual. With the advent of Reliance Communication, there came a revolution in the telecom industry. But I am not here to discuss the industry as such. So let’s do not indulge in that. Everyone now had the mobile. Newer models of mobile hit the market and there was an addition to the features with each release of new model. GPRS, Infrared, WAP were the buzz words.

In 2006, I broke my lovely phone R220. I was unhappy with the incident and wanted to have a new phone. But I was jobless and asking papa for the same would have called abuses from him. I had worked in VCustomer for some time so had some money saved in my account, but didn’t wanted to touch that. It was like a bhavishya nidhi for me – a provident fund. In March 2006, on returning from Jaipur after taking Infosys tests and interview, Shalank (my brother) and I went to Shah Market and sold the broken R220 for Rs. 600 and on our way back home bought a new mobile phone Nokia 1110i. I liked the phone very much. It was also blue in color with inverted display means black screen with white/yellow display. It cost me around Rs 2500 which was a good amount for me to forfeit. But I was happy. Mummy and Papa also showed their acceptance to my happiness. The next day I got an email from Infosys informing about my selection. So, it became a lucky phone for me. :) Same year I financed my brother to buy Nokia 6030 with my first salary. :)

I lost my phone in Oct 2008 to my insanity. I also broke my brother’s mobile. I was angry on something and threw it against the wall. It broke into pieces. The pieces were lying on the floor. It seemed that they were questioning me in a sad voice. I realized what mistake I had done and assembled it. The screen was badly damaged. I had lost it. I didn’t bought mobile myself but helped Shalank buy a mobile. He bought a Sony Erricson phone. Model I don’t remember.

In Jan 2009, my friend Satish left for US and gave me his Nokia 6030. I used it till October 2009. One evening, I was with Vir and we decided that it is the high time that I should buy a mobile. So we went to Aundh in Pune and bought a new phone. My budget was only Rs. 5000. I liked Samsung Star and bought it. It cost me a surplus of Rs 5000. After parting with the money with Samsung Star in my hand I was happy. It was a touch screen phone with 3.2MP camera.

It has changed. The telecom industry has changed. Just it clicked. My current client is one of the telecom majors in Canada. :) People have changed, life has changed. And this change will continue forever.