Get on the line!

In today’s times,high-end mobile handsets,some sleek,some bulky,with good schemes from tele-service providers have cut down the need for people to own and use landline phones. That’s where these funky phones come in. With their unique shapes,it’s hard to not get attracted to them. They may not be available easily,but they’re slowly being imported by some stores,L’orange at Aundh being one of them. Owner Roheena Nagpal says,“The whole idea of getting these different phones is that they’ll appeal to youngsters. The punchline of the store is ‘My room is who I am’ and thus the teens get to pick their choice of phones for their rooms.”

So while there are cola cans and large cola cups with straws,the aisles at L’orange also have shimmery,crystal phones. There’s the crystal skull phone,where you put your fingers through the eye sockets to lift the receiver and punch in the number,and there’s also the crystal studded torso of a woman! Nagpal adds,“The skull really appeals to young boys who are 13 years and above. We even have these pink crystal pumps,which are a real hit with girls in their teens and twenties.”

Nikita Bansal,a homemaker,shows off a simple skull phone in her son’s room,and a golf club one in the master bedroom. She says,“We hardly use landlines,but then I couldn’t resist buying these. I got the skull one from a store in Mumbai,and the golf club one during a trip abroad. The connectivity is absolutely fine,and they add spunk to the room. My hubby loves golf,so he too didn’t mind the showy handset.” Her 14-year-old son Rohan,whose friends are quite envious of his phone,says,“I did get scared one night when I looked at the skull phone,but now I’m used to it! It’s pretty cool talking into it,and makes up for me not having one of the latest mobile phones.”

There’s no end to the shapes available – you think it,and you’ll get it. There are phones in the shape of lips,fire extinguishers,hearts,and so on. Nagpal continues,“The beer bottle ones are the fastest selling. They’re in the shape of a pint and appeal to both men and women!”

She reiterates the fact that the handsets are very clear. “They use the same mechanism as a normal landline phone,except that these are funkier and more creative.” But then,that also means that they come with a price that can pinch your pocket. But Bansal says,“It’s worth it. Everybody appreciates it,and you know you own something different from the rest.”