The Hindu Business Line : It's a mobile mania!

With reduced tariff rates and wider choice these days it is common to spot mobiles peeking out of school bags or buzzing in college corridors. But affordability and choice apart, what is this growing mobile presence on campus all about? Is it an instance of pampering on the part of over-indulgent parents or a case of attitude-packed adolescents sidling up to the next `cool' thing to be seen with?

Kavya Viswanathan, a Chennai college student, has very ordinary reasons for owning a cell-phone. "My mobile is purely functional," says this student of Public Relations, though the latest Samsung model nestling in her palm looks anything but functional. "It's a gift from my brother-in-law," she explains as if reading your thoughts. "I use it primarily to stay in touch, especially to keep my parents informed of my whereabouts since I travel a lot. It's also easier for our lecturers to contact us whenever necessary." While she's in no doubt over its many advantages, it is something that she "can live without."

Ananta of Class XII sounds profoundly blasé as she says, "There's no big deal in a carrying a cell-phone. I keep one because I have no idea what time school is going to finish or what special class I'll have to attend and where." And rather than have to endure an embarrassing curfew call from her parents on her friend's mobile, she prefers "them to contact me directly if they want to know where I am."

Says Aditya, also of Class XII, "When I asked my mother for a cell-phone she laid down rules like not till you're 18 and stuff like that. But now I guess parents see that it's not all fun." In his class alone, 30 out of 40 students have cell-phones.

Parents too are more at ease with a staggering phone bill than anxiety about their child's safety. So, even as you hear Ananta's dad speak in dramatic detail of his concerns over his daughter falling unsuspecting prey to the city's ravening Romeos — which is the reason why he got her a mobile in the first place — the underlying implication is plain safety.

Are there any worries about her overshooting the mark? "There is never an issue of her ever misusing the facility. We don't pry into her calls or messages; we respect her privacy. I think they need to have that little bit of freedom to make them understand the limits that you've set for them," says her mother, Mona.

Nikhil's dad is baffled by his son's addiction to his cell-phone. "Nikhil is married to his mobile," he says. Nonetheless, he is more at ease now that his son totes his sleek Siemens M55 along. "My son is out of the house most of the time. To add to our misery, he's got a two-wheeler, so this is a convenient arrangement," he says.

Late tuitions and heavy socialising caused Anjan Aswath's parents to put him on an electronic leash. Just last month he received a Nokia 1100 as a birthday gift and ever since "the telephone bill for the land line has dropped big time."

With her attention divided between college and music class, it is inevitable that Divya Ramaniis on call all the time, to save her parents undue anxiety over her riding skills. Though her Reliance handset, a castoff from her dad, who has graduated to a more sophisticated model, is post paid, there's no danger of this B. Tech student "exceeding the limit". She is very clear about her intentions — quick connectivity and a link to the outside world.

So how much of the cell-phone toting trend is a fashion/attitude statement? Divya's thoughts trail off into a ponderous "hmmmmm" before she says, "No I don't think it's so much a fashion statement, though there are quite a few of the upmarket models doing the rounds on campus." She puts it down in part to peer pressure. "Some of us have cell-phones and if you want to keep abreast of what's happening out here, you should get yourself one." As there's a considerable amount of groupism in college, carrying your own cell-phone is one way of ensuring that you stay "in the loop and with the group," she adds.

And if there are trendier overtones, then you'll hear pretty much the usual commotion over ring tones — sonorous polyphonic tones are buzz now — and display... the flashy dazzle of colour monitors make you think of your own drab, one-dimensional, strictly utility-driven handset.

The big deal about staying in the loop is Short Messaging Service (SMS). And where connectivity comes to you under rigid sanctions with stern admonitions not to "exceed you limit", SMSs fly thick and fast. But it's not the smart pick up lines and coarse humour that's passed around; the real SMS craze on campus is far more simple and basic than that. "It's just saying that you exist," says Divya. "You come home from a hectic day at college and it's nice to have a message waiting for you. Rather than barge in on anybody with a phone call, an SMS is a subtle but sure way of saying you're there," she says.

Anjan is more blunt. "It's cheap and in some cases free."

A self-confessed SMS addict, Aditya flips through anything between 60 to 70 SMS daily on his swank Nokia 7250, an estimate rivalled only by the number that he sends out.

Rachel's mother Camilla (names changed) can think of one word to fit this entire mobile mania — networking. "These kids are so well networked and savvy and use their mobiles judiciously. As the SMS facility is less intrusive it makes them feel less guilty about contacting their friends," she says. She got 14-year-old Rachel a Reliance post-paid because "there are aged parents at home, and I need to keep an eye on things on the home front while I'm at work. But it's a very restricted use that Rachel's allowed and on our terms. Though she does try to push her luck."

Rachel is not "at all happy" with the strict arrangement but says with a smile, "I understand, and anyway I mostly use my phone for receiving calls." She can also think of more academic usage like catching up on lessons while you're away on vacation. "Recently when I was holidaying in Kerala, I'd SMS my friends in school to tell me what was happening here," she says. Though why she would want to spoil a beautiful holiday that way is a mystery. But then so are the teen years!

And of course the most obvious fallout of all this handset hungama is Romance... with a capital R. Yes, those buzzing Nokias and Motorolas on campus are busy playing cupid and as Arvind, a second-year student of Bio Technology says, "is a big boon for campus Romeos."

Kavya too narrates numerous examples of friends and classmates burrowing under desks and engaging in earnest conversation with an admirer. "The best part is that in most cases the cell-phones are provided by the boyfriends who would foot the bills too. You'll find them even sneaking their phones into the toilets and talking." Now that must ring familiar.

Picture by Mohammed Yousuf

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