Ode to my phone...
Posted 13th May 2008 at 03:33 PM by sudhanarayanan
As I sit on my bed, wondering what I should pen down, before I sleep, I look at my new phone which lies next to me. Me went back in memory lane.. was reminded of my first phone...that was a really really special thing...
It entered my life on the 29th of May 2003, when I was just preparing to going away from home for studies for the first time.. It was a Nokia 3315! Nowadays, these old/obselete models are looked at with a lot of contempt that no one would even like to accept it for free as their second phone(except for people who still own it before they change.. ). But at that time it was real special! And moreover it was extra special as I had got it with a part of my scholarship money.!
My phone was such a darling thing to me that I couldnt even imagine spending an hour without it. The time when local smss were free in Hutch, for almost a year's time, my phone was subjected to brutal torture and Nazi treatment I should say, with 'hi' 's to even the next room exchanged strictly through sms only! And the hundreds of hours spent talking over the phone, Poor thing.. it had to put up with all that..
How many times has it faithfully woken me up during exam times and forgiven me and kept snoozing every ten minutes even if i hit it in anger when the alarm i had set in it, rung...
How many times I had choked its memory with messages and finally had to make tough decisions as to which special message can I afford to delete...
How I had to subject it to double work whenever I had sent messages, by asking for delivery reports..
How many times I cause pain to it by pressing its keys, and it gives me nice little characters in return,,,
How many times I had made it reset its Total Call Duration value, as it ran out of digits..How many times I had tried my hand at composing awful tunes that it had to bear with...
How many birthday's has it promptly reminded me of, making so many of my friends feel special.. One thing I have never exploited my phone with, is, by playing games..
Cannot forget as to how its calculator helped me in the finance exam, when I forgot to take one on that day...(Ok.. ok.. i can hear people say "For gods sake, ANY phone is supposed to do all this..but still... my phone is special...) :D
I loved my phone..I adored it.. Ask anyone associated with me as to how proud I was to own that instrument,..even after the keypad showed signs of ageing, and could work properly only after excess pressure application...
I liked it even when the down arrow used to make the screen scroll upwards, and thus me having to read every multiple screen message in the reverse way( scroll 5. 4. 3. 2. read 1st page.... then scroll 5.4.3. read 2nd page etc... ) ...
I loved it even when a vowel key didnt work and i had to kindle the usage of brain for guessing, in those people who were reading my messages. I refused to part with it even as my friends begged me to change it, as they felt that it might land up in some museum... Then one day when it had dutifully reminded me of my cousin's birthday at 12, and i tried to call her, the main 'CALL' button simply refused to work, and I was for the first time kind of irritated and spent almost 10 minutes trying to press keys properly..
Then with no option left, I removed the outercase and the keypad cover, and pressed the key directly..Ah.. it worked beatifully..By now it was looking like a hero of an AI movie,hmm.. more like an Intel chipset... and still looked fundu to me.. :D And then used it for a few days like that..
I changed its case.. then... Friend: "Oh good! So you finally changed the phone.. ?Good Good :) "
Me(with a big grin...) "No.. No..jus the case.." Friend: "Oh No.. you are incorrigible..!"
But then,slowly, the ageing factor played a major part,with the battery.. So finally I took THAT decision.. The decision to give my dear thing away..
I let 29th of May 2005 pass as it as it celebrated its 2nd birthday with me.... And on the 30th I went to the Nokia dealer to get it exchanged... People passed comments like "If you want to exchange this phone, then you might end up paying him excess for him to have this phone.." or "Its an antique piece, so it might fetch a lot of money! "
But even as it left me, it did so much of good.. The dealer checked the phone, he wanted to check the volume of the phone and played a few ringtones.
It sang clear and real loud with all its glory....It never let me down... He was impressed..
Then he asked me whether the battery when charged would last for 2-3 days.. I replied with a confident "Ya.. Ya.." and thought to myself about its actual state where it would last for 5-6 hours if I charge it the whole night! He said he will exchange it for 1000 bucks! Whoa... That was real good!
My phone surely deserves it, I thought.. Comeon.. any hardworker deserves recognition... :D My friends were shocked to hear the news.. Till date they wonder as to how the hell the dealer gave a 1000 whole bucks for my phone!! :D Well... my reply .. "I told you.. my phone is the best....You never believed when I said that.." :)
Bottomline....I loved my phone...! :D :-*
It entered my life on the 29th of May 2003, when I was just preparing to going away from home for studies for the first time.. It was a Nokia 3315! Nowadays, these old/obselete models are looked at with a lot of contempt that no one would even like to accept it for free as their second phone(except for people who still own it before they change.. ). But at that time it was real special! And moreover it was extra special as I had got it with a part of my scholarship money.!
My phone was such a darling thing to me that I couldnt even imagine spending an hour without it. The time when local smss were free in Hutch, for almost a year's time, my phone was subjected to brutal torture and Nazi treatment I should say, with 'hi' 's to even the next room exchanged strictly through sms only! And the hundreds of hours spent talking over the phone, Poor thing.. it had to put up with all that..
How many times has it faithfully woken me up during exam times and forgiven me and kept snoozing every ten minutes even if i hit it in anger when the alarm i had set in it, rung...
How many times I had choked its memory with messages and finally had to make tough decisions as to which special message can I afford to delete...
How I had to subject it to double work whenever I had sent messages, by asking for delivery reports..
How many times I cause pain to it by pressing its keys, and it gives me nice little characters in return,,,
How many times I had made it reset its Total Call Duration value, as it ran out of digits..How many times I had tried my hand at composing awful tunes that it had to bear with...
How many birthday's has it promptly reminded me of, making so many of my friends feel special.. One thing I have never exploited my phone with, is, by playing games..
Cannot forget as to how its calculator helped me in the finance exam, when I forgot to take one on that day...(Ok.. ok.. i can hear people say "For gods sake, ANY phone is supposed to do all this..but still... my phone is special...) :D
I loved my phone..I adored it.. Ask anyone associated with me as to how proud I was to own that instrument,..even after the keypad showed signs of ageing, and could work properly only after excess pressure application...
I liked it even when the down arrow used to make the screen scroll upwards, and thus me having to read every multiple screen message in the reverse way( scroll 5. 4. 3. 2. read 1st page.... then scroll 5.4.3. read 2nd page etc... ) ...
I loved it even when a vowel key didnt work and i had to kindle the usage of brain for guessing, in those people who were reading my messages. I refused to part with it even as my friends begged me to change it, as they felt that it might land up in some museum... Then one day when it had dutifully reminded me of my cousin's birthday at 12, and i tried to call her, the main 'CALL' button simply refused to work, and I was for the first time kind of irritated and spent almost 10 minutes trying to press keys properly..
Then with no option left, I removed the outercase and the keypad cover, and pressed the key directly..Ah.. it worked beatifully..By now it was looking like a hero of an AI movie,hmm.. more like an Intel chipset... and still looked fundu to me.. :D And then used it for a few days like that..
I changed its case.. then... Friend: "Oh good! So you finally changed the phone.. ?Good Good :) "
Me(with a big grin...) "No.. No..jus the case.." Friend: "Oh No.. you are incorrigible..!"
But then,slowly, the ageing factor played a major part,with the battery.. So finally I took THAT decision.. The decision to give my dear thing away..
I let 29th of May 2005 pass as it as it celebrated its 2nd birthday with me.... And on the 30th I went to the Nokia dealer to get it exchanged... People passed comments like "If you want to exchange this phone, then you might end up paying him excess for him to have this phone.." or "Its an antique piece, so it might fetch a lot of money! "
But even as it left me, it did so much of good.. The dealer checked the phone, he wanted to check the volume of the phone and played a few ringtones.
It sang clear and real loud with all its glory....It never let me down... He was impressed..
Then he asked me whether the battery when charged would last for 2-3 days.. I replied with a confident "Ya.. Ya.." and thought to myself about its actual state where it would last for 5-6 hours if I charge it the whole night! He said he will exchange it for 1000 bucks! Whoa... That was real good!
My phone surely deserves it, I thought.. Comeon.. any hardworker deserves recognition... :D My friends were shocked to hear the news.. Till date they wonder as to how the hell the dealer gave a 1000 whole bucks for my phone!! :D Well... my reply .. "I told you.. my phone is the best....You never believed when I said that.." :)
Bottomline....I loved my phone...! :D :-*
Total Comments 11
Comments
| | Nice one! I loved reading it. I am all for giving due credit to gadgets and machines. Even older generation did have something like in form of "Ayudh pooja" Someone who serves you, does have a right to appreication and affection , no matter thats a living or non-living Ria |
Posted 13th May 2008 at 03:56 PM by ria2006 Updated 13th May 2008 at 03:56 PM by ria2006 |
| | Sudha, Cute post! I see how in this techie world we get so attached, I definitely understand the love for your phone. I am completely in love with my laptop- it is my bridge to keep in touch with all loved ones! |
Posted 13th May 2008 at 08:13 PM by Ranganayaki |
| | Dear Sudha, A nice piece on a cherished piece. I also love my old phone which was quite easy to operate but alas I lost the same. When alighting from an auto I forgot to take the handset which was kept next to my handbag and Lo the driver had a nice one for himself. So promptly go a new one ! |
Posted 13th May 2008 at 11:28 PM by lalitha shivaguru |
| | Dear Sudha, Nice write up!! I loved the way you brought about feelings in an inanimate object. Well I too am a Phone freak.I love my phone and need to be glued to my cell. Probably because it helps me stay connected in the truest sense. My calls begin even before I wake up from bed so the cell is in a way my bedmate.WIth me always. Though I am not so gizmo crazy .The cell helps me in connecting with all but I dont listen to music etc. Now I guess its impossible to live without it, A day without network is like you waiting in anticipation for you loved one to return home. Lovely topic. Guess after penning this you must ve had a good sleep!!:)) Love, Devika |
Posted 13th May 2008 at 11:31 PM by Devika Menon |
| | wonderful write up sudha, here is mine for you,, When I had love in my heart I never had phone to reach When I had energy I could not land a job as I never had a phone to be reached When I had many needs in my youth I never had a phone to connect Now the world is so connected And I don’t have any one to call Now the life has so many luxuries Which I can take for granted after all When the phone is there But no lover to call When the phone is here I do not need a job now When the phone is here I connect only with my net So what is the phone after all……sunkan |
Posted 14th May 2008 at 04:07 AM by sunkan |
| | Sorry Its A Repeat Andi Dont Know How It Happened |
Posted 14th May 2008 at 04:12 AM by sunkan Updated 14th May 2008 at 04:14 AM by sunkan |
| | Dear Sudha Really enjoyed the way you have written about your phone. It is just awesome. I hardly have people to call me, as I am at home and only my landline is busy and my net. Mobile is useful only when I go out of my home. But still my DH wants me to have one even not so important for me. |
Posted 14th May 2008 at 10:28 AM by Arunarc |
| | Very well written Sudha.. Most people these days can be seen with one in hand.. Icarry one because dh insists.. and I also feel its good for emergency.. keep blogin:) |
Posted 14th May 2008 at 10:46 AM by anandchitra |
| | Hi Ria, Welcome once again.. Yeah.. especially for really useful gadgets without which we might feel crippled, we could give them their credit.. :) Hi Ranganayaki, So right.. We cant imagine a world without internet now.. Hi Lalitha, The same incident i guess has happened to most of us.. especially since we do not have pockets.. :) But good opportunity to get a new one.. |
Posted 17th May 2008 at 01:19 AM by sudhanarayanan |
| | Hi Devika, Same feeling here. Nowadays, to get over our additiction, there are some resorts in india where they voluntarily make us cut off from civilization, tv, internet and phone.. that must be one helluva experience.. Sunkan, I understand how your generation feels. But over the next 10-20 years, things might be so different, that no one know.. :) |
Posted 17th May 2008 at 01:22 AM by sudhanarayanan |
| | Hi Aruna, It is so important for our husbands that we have a phone.. as they feel comfortable that we can be reached at anytime and they know that we are safe.. I just had an incident which emphasizes this.. Dear AnandChitra, So true.. Its a total necessity, and over time we do get attached to it... Thanks for dropping in |
Posted 17th May 2008 at 01:24 AM by sudhanarayanan |
Recent Blog Entries by sudhanarayanan
- Ode to my phone... (13th May 2008)
- Cookery shows... (2nd May 2008)
- **Switch** **Switch** (24th April 2008)
- Theme park (mis)adventure! (23rd April 2008)
- Funny Musings - from Sudha Narayanan (23rd April 2008)






