My maternal grandmother and I are 44 years apart. Even though we live on the same planet, her world and mine have been exceptionally different. She grew up in Gaur, Rautahat, a southern district in the country, where she had to walk and cross the border to watch a Hindi film. She got married at the age of 15 and moved to Kathmandu. I was born in a hospital in Kathmandu and used to watch films on a VCR at home while lying on the sofa in my living room. Telephones, TVs and mixers were all introduced to her life one by one. She gradually got accustomed to using them and learned to navigate her way around them. Those items were already at home when I was growing up, and I took them for granted.
Perhaps the mobile phone is one thing that was introduced to both of us at different stages of our lives. I was leaving for Bangalore for my undergraduate studies in 2006 when I got my first mobile phone. I was 19 at the time. She got her own mobile phone when she was about to turn 70 as her daughters felt she needed one. That was almost 12 years ago. She is 82 now!
Even though the mobile phone was new to both of us, it came at a time when my learning and cognitive abilities were still at their peak, so I didn’t have much difficulty learning how to use it. I kept upgrading my skills to use newer versions of the same device. On the other hand, my grandmother has stuck with the same version of the phone she was introduced to. It took years of trials and tribulations for her to reach the level of comfort she has today. She can make calls, pick up the phone, and recognise a few names of her daughters and granddaughters on the phone.
There are not many uses for mobile phones in her daily life. Since all her daughters live in Kathmandu, she doesn’t even need the Wi-Fi password for her phone and is indifferent to many of its functions. Meanwhile, I need my phone with internet from the moment I wake up until I go to bed.
I use it to write emails, watch YouTube videos, read reviews of new releases, buy and make online payments, check cricket scores, read commentaries, and find updates on work and studies related to my field. I also Google my health symptoms and get scared, find ways to stay calm and meditate, strive to stay healthy and fit, and sometimes validate my reasons for not wanting to get out of bed. Ironically, I also seek ways to disconnect from the very device that helps me assuage my insecurities.
However, there is one purpose of the mobile phone that is common for both of us: connecting with our loved ones. Though our digital dialects differ, the mobile phone has become our shared language, a testament to its power to bridge generational divides.
We both need mobile phones to connect with the people who matter to us. She has daughters who are busy in their own worlds and cannot visit her often, and granddaughters who have grown up and have their own lives. Her mobile phone helps her get updates and hear their voices. My best friend, who has been my friend since we were in grade 3, lives in Australia these days; an entire Indian Ocean divides us. My cousins and many high school friends are abroad. I need my phone to talk to them, send and receive pictures and videos of our daily lives, and maintain the bond that keeps us connected.
Even though my grandmother and I are many years apart and many aspects of our lives differ, our need to connect with the people who make our life worth living remains the same. It is, in fact, our most important need. While the mobile phone is just a tool, it is the human connections it facilitates and the love it helps transmit that truly matter; to her, to me, and, I would like to believe, to all humankind.
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