You just need to look around you today and see the maze of mobiles and the multitude of people owing them. It’s hard to believe that a few years ago this revolution was undreamt of.

Growing up in India two decades ago meant that having a telephone connection in your home was a luxury afforded by just a fortunate few. You needed to have the right connections to get this connection!! . There used to be a waiting period of close to 10 years which meant that if your parents applied for one at your birth the ring would be heard at your 10th birthday party. When it did finally come the excitement would slowly die away as your house would then  turn into the neighborhood telephone booth.

Our booth used to be a 3 minute run away from home at a neighbors place. Being the only phone around 10 houses it used to always ring for others & the little kids in that house had to go running informing about the call that was waiting. No wonder they all grew up to be good athletes making it first to the finish line at the races in school. The telephone handset used to weigh a pound and the connection used to be so bad that most of the time you needed to shout into it. At times I wondered why we needed a phone at all – while just the screaming could get the message across!! .

The luxury of then has turned into a scourge of the present times. Not only does every home have a phone but every person in the house carries a piece of it in his pocket – the mobile phone. While it was sparingly used then it is liberally used now by every Tom, Dick & Mary.

However that day is not far when very much like smoking the usage of Mobile phones will also be severely restricted. The signs are already up –  walk into a movie theatre : “ Switch off your mobiles “ , sit around at a meeting : “ turn your mobiles to silent “ . Very soon all mobiles will come with a warning pasted on them “ Extended use of the mobile is injurious to your health – may lead to Cancer “. That will be our wakeup call to go back to the good old telephone. Until then, Hello Hello.