 "Cell-less and happy")
First up: this article could have been on this page two weeks ago. But there is a very valid reason why it wasn't. That's because the people who could make this article possible could not - and still cannot - be accessed at the press of the ten-digit numbers which today define our professional, personal and social lives. To reach them, one has to wait for a specific time when they are somewhere near an instrument which is wired and plugged in, and which has to be lifted from the cradle when it rings before you can hear their voice on the other side. Unfathomable as it might seem to many of us, these are people who are going on with their lives without the ubiquitous cell phone - not out of compulsion, but out of choice.
Though mobile phone companies might boast of their growing presence, with 875.48 million of the country's population of 1.21 billion owning a cell phone, the list of people who are living without a mobile phone is by no means small. On this list is said to be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who reportedly uses neither cell phone nor email. HDFC Bank's Chairman Aditya Puri and former Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh also feature on this list. So do Krishna Kumar, educationist and former director of the National Council of Education and Training, and Satyajit Ray's film-maker son, Sandip Ray. These aren't retired people who spend their days at home. They are all people with active professional and social lives - the kind you simply wouldn't imagine could get along without a mobile phone.
Kumar, who is also a professor at Delhi University's department of education, says he doesn't use a cell phone "because it is a distraction". "A landline is a better option; it doesn't tell you later that you have missed a call and make you feel guilty." Kumar is convinced that his decision to resist pressure from friends, family and the education ministry to own a cell phone has helped him do his job better. Being cell phone-free, he says, gives him the space to think and write.
"I would not have been able to do half the work I do if I had a mobile phone," says Kumar. He has revamped the NCERT books to make them more interactive; he regularly meets the school authorities; and he attends umpteen meetings every day - all without having once felt the need for a cell phone. There have been only two occasions when he had to be contacted for work through someone else's mobile phone. But then, he does have a full-time secretary who receives calls on the landline and ensures that all important messages reach him.
Kumar prefers to keep in touch with his students through email and handwritten letters. "I don't think my habit annoys anyone," he says. His wife doesn't press him to buy a cell phone and his friends know he can be reached on the landline between 7 and 9 in the evening.
For HDFC Bank's Puri, not having a cell phone is an exercise in efficiency and management. Those who work with him say he uses the time saved from not taking calls to read up quarterly banking reports and newspapers. "Besides, he realises that his secretary or other members of his staff can type faster than him to reply to the email or text message that needs his attention," says a member of his staff. Puri prefers to keep track of things on his landline. There is a phone in his office and one in his car for those times when he might need to communicate while on the go. This culture has pervaded the organisation. "You don't see people typing furtively on their cell phones through meetings," says an official.
One might argue that it's easier to go without a cell phone if you have an army of people answering phones or sending out text and email messages for you. But what if you are in the business of communication? How then do you isolate yourself from this omnipresent tool of communication? Ask Payal Sethi, a senior editor with a media firm, who has been a journalist for years without owning a mobile phone. "I get dropped to office in a chauffeur-driven car and have access to a landline at work. In the evening, when I am getting dropped in a cab, there are others with me; in case of an emergency, I can always borrow a phone from them," she says. She admits she often encounters exclamations of dismay and disbelief when she tells people that she doesn't own a mobile phone. Her friends press her to buy a smartphone so that they can be in touch with her all the time, but she is certain she doesn't want to do that. "As if we didn't have friends and didn't keep in touch before (the advent of) mobiles! Who has the time for 100 messages an hour?" she exclaims.
Has she ever wished she had a cell phone when her plans got scrambled or she was stood up by friends? "I never plan things on the fly. I call before starting out and reach the scheduled place at the time decided," she says. In some ways, she says, cell phones have made it easier for people to cancel plans at the last minute and make them forget the virtue of punctuality.
Sethi is in good company. Former Election Commissioner Lyngdoh says he cannot understand why anyone who doesn't conduct business on cell phones would need one. "I am not a very talkative person, so I don't need a cell phone," he says. However, of late, upon the insistence from his wife, he has started carrying a cell phone when travelling. Kumar, on the other hand, still relies on STD booths to make phone calls when he is out of town.
It would be erroneous to assume that most people who shun the cell phone do so because they are averse to technology. On the contrary, many are them are active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and stay connected with friends and family through email.
There are also those who use cell phones and, like the rest of us, have to fend off pesky callers every day - notable among them is President Pranab Mukherjee who was so outraged by a telemarketing call during an important policy meeting when he was the finance minister that he promptly ordered a cap on such calls.
There is also Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who didn't own a cell phone until two months ago, but could always be found connecting with people on Google hangout or chatting with them through video conferencing. He decided to buy a cell phone after one of his secretaries was allegedly found misusing the official mobile number of the chief minister to strike deals on his behalf. Now Chandy can be reached on his mobile phone all the time, except when he is in a meeting. "He is a multi-tasker and he can be efficient even with the phone," says one of his secretaries.
Many who have shunned cell phones might, however, contest that.
Though mobile phone companies might boast of their growing presence, with 875.48 million of the country's population of 1.21 billion owning a cell phone, the list of people who are living without a mobile phone is by no means small. On this list is said to be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who reportedly uses neither cell phone nor email. HDFC Bank's Chairman Aditya Puri and former Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh also feature on this list. So do Krishna Kumar, educationist and former director of the National Council of Education and Training, and Satyajit Ray's film-maker son, Sandip Ray. These aren't retired people who spend their days at home. They are all people with active professional and social lives - the kind you simply wouldn't imagine could get along without a mobile phone.
* * *
Kumar, who is also a professor at Delhi University's department of education, says he doesn't use a cell phone "because it is a distraction". "A landline is a better option; it doesn't tell you later that you have missed a call and make you feel guilty." Kumar is convinced that his decision to resist pressure from friends, family and the education ministry to own a cell phone has helped him do his job better. Being cell phone-free, he says, gives him the space to think and write.
"I would not have been able to do half the work I do if I had a mobile phone," says Kumar. He has revamped the NCERT books to make them more interactive; he regularly meets the school authorities; and he attends umpteen meetings every day - all without having once felt the need for a cell phone. There have been only two occasions when he had to be contacted for work through someone else's mobile phone. But then, he does have a full-time secretary who receives calls on the landline and ensures that all important messages reach him.
Kumar prefers to keep in touch with his students through email and handwritten letters. "I don't think my habit annoys anyone," he says. His wife doesn't press him to buy a cell phone and his friends know he can be reached on the landline between 7 and 9 in the evening.
For HDFC Bank's Puri, not having a cell phone is an exercise in efficiency and management. Those who work with him say he uses the time saved from not taking calls to read up quarterly banking reports and newspapers. "Besides, he realises that his secretary or other members of his staff can type faster than him to reply to the email or text message that needs his attention," says a member of his staff. Puri prefers to keep track of things on his landline. There is a phone in his office and one in his car for those times when he might need to communicate while on the go. This culture has pervaded the organisation. "You don't see people typing furtively on their cell phones through meetings," says an official.
One might argue that it's easier to go without a cell phone if you have an army of people answering phones or sending out text and email messages for you. But what if you are in the business of communication? How then do you isolate yourself from this omnipresent tool of communication? Ask Payal Sethi, a senior editor with a media firm, who has been a journalist for years without owning a mobile phone. "I get dropped to office in a chauffeur-driven car and have access to a landline at work. In the evening, when I am getting dropped in a cab, there are others with me; in case of an emergency, I can always borrow a phone from them," she says. She admits she often encounters exclamations of dismay and disbelief when she tells people that she doesn't own a mobile phone. Her friends press her to buy a smartphone so that they can be in touch with her all the time, but she is certain she doesn't want to do that. "As if we didn't have friends and didn't keep in touch before (the advent of) mobiles! Who has the time for 100 messages an hour?" she exclaims.
Has she ever wished she had a cell phone when her plans got scrambled or she was stood up by friends? "I never plan things on the fly. I call before starting out and reach the scheduled place at the time decided," she says. In some ways, she says, cell phones have made it easier for people to cancel plans at the last minute and make them forget the virtue of punctuality.
Sethi is in good company. Former Election Commissioner Lyngdoh says he cannot understand why anyone who doesn't conduct business on cell phones would need one. "I am not a very talkative person, so I don't need a cell phone," he says. However, of late, upon the insistence from his wife, he has started carrying a cell phone when travelling. Kumar, on the other hand, still relies on STD booths to make phone calls when he is out of town.
* * *
It would be erroneous to assume that most people who shun the cell phone do so because they are averse to technology. On the contrary, many are them are active on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and stay connected with friends and family through email.
There are also those who use cell phones and, like the rest of us, have to fend off pesky callers every day - notable among them is President Pranab Mukherjee who was so outraged by a telemarketing call during an important policy meeting when he was the finance minister that he promptly ordered a cap on such calls.
There is also Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who didn't own a cell phone until two months ago, but could always be found connecting with people on Google hangout or chatting with them through video conferencing. He decided to buy a cell phone after one of his secretaries was allegedly found misusing the official mobile number of the chief minister to strike deals on his behalf. Now Chandy can be reached on his mobile phone all the time, except when he is in a meeting. "He is a multi-tasker and he can be efficient even with the phone," says one of his secretaries.
Many who have shunned cell phones might, however, contest that.