The warmth of the mild winter sun, the whiff of fresh air, the grey mist that transcended from the blue hills towards the golden valley...things appeared to be the same in Imphal as was the last time one saw. It seemed life stood standstill.

Indeed, things remained unchanged. The same old potholed dusty roads, the same masked rickshaw drivers--the king of the roads, who can turn left, right and centre without any signals. On the face of it, Imphal hadn't changed, at least for the better. Yet, a closer observation revealed how life had moved on there in the place where one had fond memories of childhood, adolescence and of becoming an adult before leaving it...

Manipuri Mobile: Bhai Saab Nahin Lagega (BSNL)

If the hoardings that one could see in and around Imhpal city were anything to go by then one can easily jump to the conclusion that the Mobile winds have finally arrived in the valley crossing the nine ranges.

Be it at the Khoyathong corner or stretch in front of the Kangla gate near Sanjenthong or the campus walls of TG Higher Secondary School or DM College campus wall or on the railings of Keisampat bridge, one could not quite miss the 'Message' of the cell companies.

'Smart' from Reliance, 'Cell One' from BSNL, and yes, 'Aircel Sponsors of Miss Manipur Contest' fought for a place at every possible corner of Imphal. Competition seemed to be brewing. So did that entail happy talking?

Tut ..
tuut.... tuuuut
......tuuuuut .......tuuuuuuuuuut....

The network you are trying is busy please try after sometime.
Adomna toubiriba network asi busy oire chanbiduna ngahak leiraga toubiyu...

After sometime, one did tried after some time....

Tut ..
tuut.... tuuuut
......tuuuuut .......tuuuuuuuuuut....

The network you are trying is busy please try after sometime.
Adomna toubiriba network asi busy oire chanbiduna ngahak leiraga toubiyu...

The same tone, the same message...

Having wasted more than 10 minutes in ones' enthusiasm to find out the mobile connectivity in Imphal, patience wore thin. So it was back to the same old landline.

"Eteima, where is nanao. I can't get through his mobile. Need to talk to him urgently."

"Ibungo, no point in trying on mobile. We use PCOs even when we have mobiles in our pocket. The network is useless," the newly weded eteima of one's cousin replied.

As if to make it more convincing, she passed the line to aunty, who really knows how to put the message across.

"It would be better to run after your cousin and find him wherever he is rather than try him on the mobile," she quipped.

Despite the 'after sometime' network, Manipuris' love for mobile, however, appeared boundless. Forget the working folks, it was the tution going kids who are the real mobile owners, speaking endlessly (were they really?) as they rode their Pulsars, Karitzmas and Honda Activas.. They were really mobile...

And it was all the more amusing to read on papers everyday about missing mobiles..

I have lost my Nokia XXXX mobile bearing no 94360XXXXX on my way from Friend's Mini to Usha Cinema on so and so date. If anybody found it please handover to the undersigned..

I have lost my Nokia XXXX mobile bearing no 9856XXXXXX on my way from Nagamapal to Kangjeibung so and so date. If anybody found it please handover to the undersigned..

Ads like the above were a regular feature in Poknapham. One wondered will they ever get their mobiles back?

Interestingly, calling on a BSNL (Bhai Saab Nahin Lagega, as is popularly known by now) number no longer irritated as one had learnt its new acronym. But calling on a Aircel number starting with 9856XXXXXX was a new experience.

To call a so called local mobile number, one neded to prefix 0, which means you cannot call from a phone which doesn't have a STD facility. Nevertheless, Manipuris lived up to their 'rich' image as they filled Aircel connection forms without even bothering find out why such a thing.

By the way one was told Aircel has the biggest network in Imphal, and why not after all they are the proud sponsors of Miss Manipur Contest. They never fail to be on the front pages with the pictures of Aircel Miss Mitsna Nigthibi, Aircel Miss Samlang Phajabi and what not...

The arrival of cell companies have also really benefited some lucky few, on whose sumaang they have erected their towers. They pay them a monthly rental of Rs 10,000 (based on hearsay) but some unclucky few had to share bounty with some Naharols (again based on hearsay).

On their part the cell companies have done their homework on the revenue model. Knowing who Manipuris are, they have not issued any post paid connections so that they don't have to worry about bill collection. 'Take prepaid and top up if you wanna talk' the message was lound and clear.

And as for the Bhai Saab Nahin Lagega company, post paid connections are issued on security over the landline number. No bill payment for the mobile meant disconnection of both the lines. Good way isn't it? One gets to hear about such things only from Manipur....

Click here to read Part II