There is drop dead silence at the NCPA as Anupam and Kiron Kher have reached a tense impasse in their play Saalgirah. A taut play about a divorced couple, it is a dialogue-heavy script that relies on the actors to sustain the mood. The theatre is silent, the audience still. Suddenly, the peace is shattered by the strident and insistent ringing of a cell phone.The tension permeates to across the stage and the audience is suspended, waiting for something to go wrong. The rest is history. Says Kiron, "He lost his cool and the rest of us on stage froze. Then Anupam closed his eyes and continued as if nothing had happened." But something did. The next morning, Anupam Kher's outburst against the mobile phone user hit the headlines. And while there has been talk about the invasiveness of mobile phones, this was the first time someone stood up and said something.But for Kiron and Anupam, this was perhaps the last straw. Says Kiron, "This is not the first time a mobile phone has interrupted a performance. The ringing disturbs the actor and the audience. It snaps you out of suspended time."Writer and columnist Shobha De was there among the stunned Saalgirah audience. Says she, "I was astonished that Anupam could continue." De's anti-mobile stand is well documented. And this time when the phone rang, she was tempted to get up and punch the person. But this violent reaction has built up over time. Even during the recent Christian Bernaard lecture, sponsored by BPL mobile, the phones did not stop ringing. Even after the sponsors had requested three times that users turn off their cells. "It was so distracting the way mobile phones kept ringing," adds De. For her it is the height of bad manners to keep your cell phone on in public places. "If you have urgent calls, stay home," she says.That's the real problem. People step out, in style, or so they think, wearing their cell phone as a signature of their status. Their phone is what singles them out in a crowd, or so they hope. "People want to make it look like they are very busy and can never be out of touch," says De.But those who really are busy and need to be online are on the other side of the fence. Figuring in the list, are celebrities like Milind Soman, Naseeruddin Shah, Gautam Rajadhyaksha and Meghna Reddy. Sometimes, this stand is in flagrant violation of what their job demands. For instance, Channel [V] has been leaning on Reddy to carry a cell phone, like their other veejays. She says no way, "I find cell phones intrusive."Reddy recently went to New Delhi for a scheduled seven-day trip. After that, she vanished for two days and no one could get in touch with her. "I was glad to have two days off when no one could reach me," she says. Though Reddy can see the advantages of having a phone, she does not feel it is a necessity. "My mother is home to take messages and if I had to get something, it would be a pager. It is less disturbing," she says. And phones ringing in the evening really disturbs her. Says the model-turned-veejay, "I get annoyed when a phone goes off at dinner. It's okay at lunch as it is still during business hours."Ace-lensman Rajadhyaksha also refuses to use a mobile. When he is home, his MTNL phone is good enough and when he is on the move, particularly at a shoot, the last thing he wants, is to be disturbed. "I do not believe that anything in life is so urgent," he says. For Rajadhyaksha the greatest disadvantage of owning a mobile is that he's on call. "It means I can be traced anywhere, I'd hate that," says he. In fact, even other people's mobiles annoy him, specially when he is at a shoot. "If somebody's mobile suddenly rings it ruins the whole mood," he says.This breed is also ashamed to own a phone. Shobha De, does have a mobile phone. But she insists she did not buy it. Max Touch gifted it to her after she modelled for the company. She says, "It was my deep, dark, hidden secret that I never wanted anyone to know." For one year she never touched her phone. Even now, her mobile number is strictly for her children to get in touch with her. De however admits that a mobile has its advantages, particularly when she is travelling. Her husband Dilip De too doesn't enjoy the cell phone but business dicates persuaded him to get connected, a few months ago. He is still embarrassed about using his phone. Only her daughter Avantika loves her mobile. "The younger generation has forgotten what a regular phone is. If the normal line is busy they just pick up the cell phone." Reddy agrees. "People just call to say `Yo man! Whatcha up to?" And Kher has the final word: "A mobile should be used as a convenience, not a nuisance."
