Sunday 12 February 2017

Ring in the loo

A most amusing manifestation of the overwhelming control of mobile phones in our lives is its loud ring inside common or public toilets. And given the ubiquitous use of mobile phones by Indians in their own inimitable way without caring two hoots for privacy or appropriateness, it gets really interesting sometimes. Amusing or irritating, that depends on the mood and place.

In the office , I regularly find people answering to nature's call along with the phone call and trying to balance both with two hands. Of course, I can say this only for the males and can only wonder what happens in the case of females.I am just mildly curious but believe they are much more practical than males. And many times I observe people shouting at the top of their voice to buttress their point across, to the other side, all within the confines of the toilet reverberating with the roar or whine, as it may be, the case.

It is downright comical to see a person stand at the stall, unzip his trouser to relieve himself and lo, the phone rings in his pocket. The short macarena that follows is truly a tribute to the Pavlovian school of psychology. And then there are some, who will slip their cellphone between the ear and shoulder while contorting their neck sideways and continue with their water of India trick using both hands. Hilarious, I say.

And sometimes, a mobile rings from inside a water-closet giving away the identity of the person who had surreptitiously entered there to get relief from a queasy stomach. And here also, some people answer the call. So along with the sound of the toilet flushing, you also hear the directions about how to complete a job or some silly excuses and reasons for not being able to meet the sales targets.And I swear, I have heard people giving away some classified information regarding some financial matters or gossip about certain events. They perhaps thought that nobody was listening.

Personally, my mobile is generally on a vibrating mode when I am in the office. So I enjoy the vibration in the pocket while inside the loo. But I wonder why people give such great importance to attend an incoming call when they can always call back the person after a couple of minutes.Why miss the relief when you enter with the sole aim of getting relieved, that's my logic. And this applies not only to toilets but for all public places or even while enjoying dinner or a program with the family. Everything can't be that important and if they are, then probably nothing is so important.

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