The urban-rural connection

Vishveshwar Sharma, 28, fled to Mumbai from a village near Bhavanipur in Bihar when he was only 14 and his father could not afford his school fees for Class 10. In Mumbai, he worked as a carpenter to earn a living. He quickly became the bread earner of the family back home and used to visit the village every once in three months to assist his father in farming and to get his sisters married off. At 17, his mother had a paralysis attack, and as the eldest son, he was obliged to get married so his new wife could run the household with 11 people while he was earning in a city 48 hours of a multi-leg journey away. Sharma’s wife had their first baby when he was 20 and second when he was 25, and had just started a new career as a driver in Mumbai. Sharma did not see his first kid until he was a year old, and second until he was 2.5 years and ready for his mundan ceremony in Haridwar last summer. He cannot entertain the thought of having his family over in Mumbai, since it is not something that his Rs. 6,500 per month income can afford. He is one of 3 people from his village, and one of 1,000 from Bhavanipur to make it to Mumbai; and receives a hero’s welcome back home every time he visits.

Sharma changes his mobile phone handset every 3 months and is on his 8th mobile phone. All his mobiles were used before he bought them and he often barters with like-minded friends. He is always aware of the best second hand deals in town. He says, “when you buy a used mobile - dial *#06# to get the IMEI number, then cross-check that code on the phone circuit board and battery back, dial *#0000# to see the month/year of make, and *#92702689# to even see the total hours that the phone has been used”. He continues, “after you buy, don’t forget to dial *#7780# to reset to original settings without actually deleting the ringtones! Never ever dial *#7370#. It deletes everything. I did it to my friend’s phone once and got beaten up.” -chuckles-

He does not watch television, but has a computer in his room (a room shared with 6 other people, all from Bihar). He uses the computer to transfer ringtones and games to his and his friends’ mobiles. His uncle is an electronics technician who repairs TV’s, VCR’s, Computers and Mobiles in the slum and knows over 1,000 people by first name because he is the most popular seller of refills for pre-paid SIM cards, one of the highest selling items among the urban masses now (even rivaling Gutkha - chewing tobacco). He assists his uncle in diagnosing and repairing software malfunctions on mobiles. “My expertise is Nokia”, he says.

Every time Sharma goes back to his village now, he carries a mobile phone handset and leaves it behind. In the village, people have stopped going to the PCO (telephone booth). Instead, they rent mobiles from Sharma’s family by the minute. They can give a missed call to the other party and then receive incoming calls (free to the owner) at the same charge as the PCO - Rs. 3 per minute. Sharma re-charges the card from the city, so his family does not have to spend a dime, and his family makes a handsome living with this.

Sharma never had a landline, and moved straight to the mobile. He never had a television, and moved straight to the computer. He never owned a bike, but has driven a Rolls Royce (valet parking at a 5-star hotel in Mumbai). Everyday, he invents new income and business opportunities, and is one of the millions of connections between urban and rural India. Sharma is also a happy customer of Chaupaati, where he connects with good deals on second hand mobiles and computers.