The I need a Recharger phenomenon is not new. As part of a build up to this post, I even wrote a poem on it, but it deserves a topic of its own, and it’s something I’ve been meaning to write for a while now.

This first came to my attention when Sanjay, Sony and Vivek came down one day to “talk”. It’d been a while since we had hung out and we all found cosy places on my chair & bed, leaning over each other, legs all over the place and what not. Then, Sanjay’s phone beeped, he picked it up and his hands twittered over the keys as he started messaging. Soon, part of his attention was occupied by the shiny metallic buttons but our conversation continued unchanged. Sony’s phone started insistently vibrating, and he picked up a call, and then somehow it was my turn to make a call. Vivek soon followed suit. Yeah, for the better part of an hour or two, we did “talk”, but with different people 🙂

Then of course there is the consistent hogging of a mobile recharger. Ambrosia, the joint that we hang out at is prefered by many because it keeps a stock of mobile rechargers. The unhealthily feature-full mobiles that we carry drain a lot of power – especially if you talk around 2-3 hours a day – so that when we chill out, our mobiles need to juice up too. When friends come over, I have a Nokia & Sony Ericsson recharger handy; borrowing and lending of rechargers is common and everybody is advised to bring a recharger along when you go along for a trip (or you’ll miss the daily dose of your favorite wireless device). Of course, this problem may be solved when the near-mythical fuel cell finally comes along, but the underlying phenomenon remains unchanged. DP [my mentor, teacher and friend who’s been featured far too long in this blog without an introduction – something that I’ll correct soon perhaps with a proper Cast of Characters] will call this harmful and impersonal communication and whatnot, but I’ll think of it as something interesting to observe.

The photo shows Pranav talking on his ancient cell, with Sony in the background doing… much the same thing. 🙂