A confused call

Rajinder Mallick Arya,the man who headed the Arya Samaj congregation in Lank that passed the verdict,looks and sounds confused himself. All we said was that parents should keep an eye on their children to make sure they keep away from such distractions. The newspapers called me Taliban,but we have not banned cellphones. We are only saying that they should not be misused, he says,almost apologetically.

At least when he passed the verdict,Arya thought he had done the right thing. So he,along with a few others in the village,marched to the office of a local daily,deciding a bit of publicity wont be bad. But the local media went to town with the news,calling it a Talibani ruling. The state CID,fearing a backlash,visited the village to inquire about the order,questioning every person who was part of the congregation. Arya is now shaken and not sure if he did the right thing by going to the media,but he holds his ground on the cellphones.

We dont know what children are doing with their cellphones. They spend a lot of time with them. But what is more worrying is the impact it is having on women. We may give mobile phones to our daughters for their safety,but how would we know who they are talking to, says Arya,a 45-year-old who teaches at the local primary school. As he says that,a group of boys behind him speak animatedly on their cellphones. There is nothing he could do about that.

Lank,in western UPs Muzaffarnagar district,is in a state of fluxcaught between modernity that the cellphones represent and the need to hold on to social structures and hierarchies that are fast crumbling. The cellphone is a recent entrant here,something the older generation is still to come to terms with.

The cellphones are everywhereyoung men cycling back from their fields have cellphones sandwiched between their ears and shoulders,teenagers lounging near the village chaupal exchange ring tones or videos,kirana stores hang recharge coupons with shampoo sachets and youngsters hurriedly send messages on phones. Just what is this thing that has got the villages youngsters talking into it all day,the elders wonder. Surely,it is an evil influence,especially for our girls,say Arya and other older people.

Sixty-year-old Subhash Chand Sharma,principal of a primary school in Lank,is more forthcoming. In the last two years,there have been at least eight cases of girls eloping with boys from outside their community. The parents think their girl is in school,but instead,she could be on her phone,calling some young man and fixing a meeting with him, says Sharma.

Lank,with a population of over 12,000,is a Jat village and most of the Jats are members of the Arya Samaj that has considerable influence over the village. Muslims form the next big chunk of the population. The village lies in the belt that is notorious for its honour killings,though villagers claim there havent been any so far in Lank.

In Lank,like in other villages in the region,the older people like to believe that the younger generation lives by the rules they have set for them. But thats where the cellphones are a problem: suddenly,the elders realise,they have no control over what their children are doing or who they are talking to.

Jodha Singh,a 35-year-old farmer,owns a cellphone and is married with three children. That qualifies him to set rules. It is not a good thing,girls should not be given phones. They get corrupted. They forget the boundaries of caste and run away with just anyone, he says.

Only two houses away from Aryas home,a gaggle of women comes together to discuss the issue on their terrace. While others blush and talk in whispers,22-year-old Preeti,who has done her Masters in political science,takes command. Frankly,I think those who think that cellphones corrupt women,especially the unmarried,belong to the eighteenth century. And who are they to tell us what to do and what not to, she thunders as the other women join her in an applause.

Today women work and go to study in towns. How can they be safe without being in touch with their families, she says. She says she worked in a firm in Delhi for six months and came back because the water there did not suit me.

Preeti is feisty but probably knows that in these parts,standing up and speaking out can be risky. So when we ask for her cellphone,she fumbles for words before saying,We have one phone for the entire home,I do not have a cellphone. A woman standing next to her thrusts a phone into her hand,saying,Yeh raha tumhara phone.

Bina,26,who is married with three children,owns a cellphone but isnt sure what the new rules are. Please tell me,do you think it is safe to keep my phone or will I be punished? Its hard to help Bina with the rules of the villagethe definitions are vague.

The village has six schools,four primary and two schools till the eighth standard. Almost every girl here is enrolled in school. Computers have also made an appearance,but they are no match for the cellphone ragebroadband is expensive and people dont see it as much of a threat to their values.

Adesh Kumar,a 25-year-old who has done his diploma in computer hardware and accounts,has a computer at homehis family bought it after a bumper crop in 2005. I use it to practise sometimes, he says. But cellphones,he says,are unavoidable. The elders gathered in the room glare at him and Kumar quickly adds a rider,But yes,it should be used only in the case of an emergency. The elders nod appreciatively. Just then,a phone rings,blaring out Munni badnaam hui. A teenaged boy in his school uniform sheepishly disconnects the call and slips the phone into his pocket.