They began lining up well before daybreak. By noon, people were spilling out of the narrow bylane off Maulana Azad Road. Eight years after cellphones came into the country touching off a virtual telecom revolution, Srinagar celebrated its arrival today. The roads near the Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) office were jampacked and police had a tough time controlling the crowd. When the BSNL central office opened at 10 am—private operators are still out because of security reasons—there were already over 500 customers waiting to collect the application forms and hundreds poured in as the day progressed. STANDING TO BE MOBILE: Men (above) and women line up for application forms on Monday. Javeed Shah Abdul Rashid says he couldn’t sleep last night. ‘‘I knew there will be a lot of rush so I decided to come as early as possible,’’ he said. He had left his Kannipora home in the outskirts of the city to reach the BSNL office at 5 am. But someone still beat him. ‘‘I was the sixth one to get the form,’’ he said. There is reason enough to cheer about as the cellphone is reaching Kashmir after crossing several roadblocks put up by the Home and Defence ministries. They were concerned that cellphones would improve the information networks of the militants. The registration, however, is still a small, first step on the road to mobility. Sources say that intelligence agencies will scrutinise the applications. It will be follwed by a lucky draw and the fortunate 5,000 from Srinagar will get phones in the first phase. The phones will be operational only in Srinagar and its outskirts — other Kashmir districts will go mobile in two months. But none of this seemed to daunt the people today. At noon, the line was almost half-a-kilometre long. The separate line for women too was getting longer by the minute. Most of the aspirants were teenagers or men in their 20s and 30s. ‘‘It is the best way to keep in touch. Mobiles have made a lot of difference to life everywhere — how long should we remain backward?’’ said Ishfaq, an engineering student. ‘‘I actually fought with my family who thought it was too expensive. It feels good to be able to remain connected 24 hours a day’’. Others felt mobile phones would help end the uncertainity of daily life. ‘‘I leave home every day in the morning for work and till I reach home in the evening, my mother is tense. There is so much uncertainty — anything can happen any time,’’ said Sajjad Ahmad Bhat, a marketing executive. Next to him in the line is his friend Rashid who thinks cellphones will make people feel safer. ‘‘If one feels he is in danger anytime or if there is a medical emergency, one could call immediately,’’ said Rashid, who is a doctor. ‘‘It is a new thing. It is exciting to even think of the freedom to send text messages and call friends unhindered,’’ Sabiha, a graduation student said. ‘‘It is expensive, though, but who cares. Now onwards we will have to put in our entire pocket money (for the phone).’’ There was so much rush and confusion at the entrance that a woman fainted when people jostled to get in. The desperation to collect the form was so much that senior BSNL officials did not even take phone calls. ‘‘Everybody who is someone in Kashmir is calling for a booking form,’’ a senior BSNL officer said. ‘‘We had expected enthusiasm but this is unbelievable.’’
