India specializes in "Indianizing" its imported alien habits. We are a tradition most hospitable to newer cultures and social habits, but everything passes through the make-it-for-India shower that renders a quintessential Indian flavor to the whole experience of the import. So, we have conveniently and quite unapologetically "indianized" the infusion-based tea drinking habits of Englishmen to our own desi version of boil-to-broth ceremonial slurps. Another import – Nightie-the-night-gown has comfortably found space in wardrobes of Indian women, only difference is that it has now been ripped off its post-sunset and bedtime exclusivity and reinvented as the household uniform (occasionally slipping out for a buy at the market). It wonderful how we competitive we are at finding appropriate and befitting usage for anything that comes in and I haven’t yet spoken about our classical Chettinad Pizza or even the alleged “Chinese” dishes of the Indian cuisine.
What is most remarkable about the Indian mindset is that our operational framework is infinitely accommodative of newer inclusions but at the same time is intricately choreographed by an underpinning Indian way of thinking about and working with these things. In most cases, this reflects the kind of culture we have grown up in and speaks of the strong value system that is embedded within our subconscious. Now, to understand where we derive these values from requires a rather complex socio-politico-economic analysis of the Indian society and is an entirely different ballgame altogether. But the objective of this essay is to highlight some of such syndromes and for reasons understood, I would stick to my o
bjective.
One wonderful trait that, in my belief, qualifies to be India’s greatest gift to the world of mobile telephony is our home-grown conservationist communication solution of “Missed Calls”. For chauvinistic reasons, I would take the liberty of calling it “The Great Indian ‘Miss.Calls’ ”. More often than not you would find the Indian child advised to give his parents a “miss-call” once he reaches where he set out for. If you’re heading to pick someone up for dinner, in the Indian context, you would most likely give a “miss-call” once you reach their place. The barber gives a “miss-call” to his next door chaiwallah to place an order for his daily dose of post-meal tea. The ‘istriwallah’ is just a “miss-call” away.
“Miss-Call” is Indian for what we know as “missed calls” in the mobility lingo. There are certain fundamental differences though. For instance, in the non-Indian parts of the world, missed calls are chance-based. One just happens to miss a call for a variety of reasons. But in the Indian context “miss-calls” are choice-driven. One intends to “give” a “miss-call” for some pre-
decided reason. The result – intention has efficiently been conveyed. Missed calls are past tenses while “miss-calls” are present or as in some cases even future tenses. Miss-calls unlike their non-Indian sibling are source (caller) centric. The receiver does not have much to do here and sometimes could be expected to disconnect the call.
Now, there are two important types of “miss-calling” in India. The first one is more of a message delivery service system. This is a monologue whose sole purpose is to convey a message (content pre-decided). For instance, your friend says “Give me a miss-call when you leave home, Ill leave accordingly”. Monologue miss-calls are often a one-time message or questions with the interlocutor playing no active role in the conversation. Rather this isn’t a conversation at all.
On the other hand, the conversationalist dialogue miss-calls are mostly questions with a binary set of answers. This type of miss-calling accommodates for the receiver’s answer as well. For instance, you can give a miss-call when you reach a friend’s place and if he actively disconnects the call it means you head upstairs to see him/her(mind you – not many of us have voice mails activated. So this is still a free service). Passivity implies that they are heading downstairs. The rules of this conversation are pre-decided. One makes it clear as to what means what before indulging in the conversation.
I am reminded of a funny incident narrated by a friend who runs an Indian restaurant in Edinburgh. His Chef, who was to arrive in the city from India, was making his first trip outside country and did not have a local (UK) number. Fortunately (or unfortunately) he arrived in Edinburgh an hour in advance and wanted to phone his employer to convey his arrival. He frantically went around the airport asking the suspicious Scots if he could borrow their cellphone and give a miss-call to his boss. Naturally, no one obliged. I think no one even understood what he was trying to say and his Indian mannerisms made things worse ! When the boss finally arrived, the chef was in full mind to head back home as he found the people rude and unhelpful which wasn’t actually the case !
We still have great laugh thinking about the incident. !
Innovations and adaptations are always driven either by necessities or by embedded-in-subconscious mentalities. So, what is it that drove Indians to innovate this new way of exploiting the technology. Or should I say – Making better use of it? It is a rather complex question that has several answers but the most evident and contributing of them all comes from a fundamental principle of Indian culture – Conservation. Indians are a conservationist race. Be it our habit of preserving plastic water bottles for “that fateful day in future when the bottle could be a matter of life and death” or our penchant for repairing our dead and broken mobile television set. Nothing goes out of the Indian household without going through the rigorous filtration process and in most cases there is no distillate. We would have found appropriate place for every broken plastic in our households. Although this might come across as a provokingly humorous take on Indian way of living, it is most certainly not what I Intend. On the contrary, I think this is one of the most efficient lifestyle ideology.
Indians are perhaps the most organic of beings. Our household vegetable discards are promptly placed outside on the street where a holy cow would feast on it happily. The previous nights Dal is mixed with some rice and flour to turn it into a sumptuous “pudi” for next-day’s breakfast. Old television sets, nevermind their state of utter uselessness, would always find a buyer and take-away plastic boxes of fancy restaurants would always find space on the kitchen shelves. Unconsciously, we are contributing to a greener tomorrow. There is a ubiquitous sense of eco-friendliness that exists in our acts.
What does a simple miss-call have to tell about us? It speaks of our respect for technology and our strong desire to hold control over its usage.Mind over matter, they say. We wouldn’t earn a double-digit growth by saving meager pennies on our telephone calls and nor do we intend to do so. It is just that we have learnt to live in a need-based consumption space. We do not necessitate spending that can otherwise be avoided.
Our ingenuity with finding cost-effective solutions does not speak just of our intelligence. To me it symbolizes a rather innocent and foolish ignorance. Stay Hungry and Stay Foolish, someone said. It is that foolishness that I am talking about !
PS : Give me a “Miss-Call” if you liked what you read
