the story of one man's mobile

This multilingual phone belongs to a young man working with an environmental NGO. It is his 5th phone in 5 years but two were simply week long flings. He was the first person in his village of 3000 people to buy a mobile phone 5 years ago - the Nokia 1100 for a grand sum of Rupees 3000.

Therein lies a story.

Five years ago, he tells me, he was on a visit to an old and beloved friend who was then working in the big city of Jaipur as an artisan making statues out of stone when he noticed his friend cupping his hand to his ear and talking out loud. Curious, he discovered that there was something called a "mobile" and wonder of wonders, it allowed one to speak on the telephone without wires! He knew then and there that he too had to have this marvel for his very own. At that time, he was on a salary of Rupees 2500 and had a young wife to support.

So he gathered up his intent and went to see a friend who owned a mobile phone shop in the town near his village. From the many models available he selected the 1100 - to be honest he said, it felt solid and was the cheapest phone available then. And he handed over his entire month's pay packet with the promise to return the following month with the balance of Rs 500. He didn't even have enough for a SIM card he said laughing at his own youthful determination.

Then, he went back to his father's house, where he and wife lived along with his mother and two younger brothers (and now, his own two young sons) and showed his purchase (and empty pockets) to his father, the head of the household since he was now unable to contribute his share to their joint household expenses. He managed on a very tight budget until his next paycheck where again a significant chunk went to pay off the balance payment as well as purchase a prepaid SIM card.

Yes, he laughs, my expenses have increased since I became a mobile phone owner. Airtime? I just have 5 rupees on the phone. But I was the first in my village, ahead of even the big shots with their landlines (there are 3 or 4 landlines in the village) and now almost two thirds of the people have a mobile phone.

After the first year and a half, he thought he really should upgrade - mobiles were now available with all kinds of things, cameras, radios and that little wire thing you stick in your ears, you know? So I went to the shop and the most affordable model (Rs 2950) with a radio was a Motorola phone, that slim one - the one with the very big text, I asked him? (the Motofone, designed specifically for rural India and other BoP markets) Yes, he said that one. But it didn't last long, I gave it away, the battery wouldn't last the whole day, look my Nokia can go upto 5 days without charging, I mean we have electricity wiring in our home but you know how it is. Then my brother tried to charge it or whatever and burnt out the socket so when the repair guy told me it would cost me 600 rupees to fix it I thought to myself I may as well buy another phone. 

He splurged 5000 (paying only half upfront) on a fancy LG phone with a camera and all but he returned it within 3 days and bought a Nokia 1200. He said I couldn't bring myself to contemplate the kind of money I was paying for it and anyway, later I bought myself a digital camera. I like photography, I can take the digital camera down to a shop in the town and they download stuff for me and send it to Jaipur and the very next day I get prints! Rs 20 per photograph for a full colour print.

Finally he did end up giving the 1200 away (it only had a colour screen, no radio or anything) and bought his current phone which has FM radio early in the spring in 2008. It feels very nice and I'm happy with it he says. You know, there's folks in the village who have no clue what a mobile is and what it does but they all know that if you buy one, its gotta be a Nokia.

I had to grin at that. The Nokia tribe is spread out across continents methinks.

Last year or the year before he thought that it was time now to buy a motorcycle (one could almost say that purchasing that very first mobile phone successfully sparked something upwardly mobile in his psyche - I have often thought that for all the hullabaloo about the monetary gains that mobiles have brought amongst the BoP in the developing world what is often overlooked is the very real intangible benefits that they seem to inflict almost as a by the way side effect) What was interesting was that he borrowed 25% of the cash for the motorbike and then paid the rest off quickly with the largest installments that he could afford as soon as possible. Why, I asked him, when you could have taken a lot longer and had a little more disposable income available each month?

Because I'd only spend that cash and I'd also have debt hanging over me for a lot longer. This was the money is going towards a capital purchase and I'm paying it off so I own it completely much faster. Now I also bought a television set and a satellite dish but you know, i have no idea how I'm going to pay the Rs 200 a month subscription charges. (I've a feeling that DishTV is on its way back to the dealer)