“In my childhood, I never went to school. I’d work in the fields all day. But after I got married, we faced severe droughts and our yields suffered. The money we earned wasn’t enough for our family, so my husband and I made the tough decision to work individually and support the family. He now takes care of the farm land and I work as a sweeper at the local college. We’ve been here for more than 25 years now, but my maiden family lives in a village. This year, my son got fed up with my constant whining about how much I miss talking to them and insisted that I buy myself a mobile phone! At first, I laughed at the suggestion – I had never been to school, how could I possibly learn to use a phone? But my son kept insisting. After we saved enough money, we went together and bought it. At first, I was completely clueless about how to use it. I was scared to even hold it, in case I dropped and broke it. Eventually, my son taught me the basics – I have learnt to dail and answer calls now. In his next teaching session, hopefully, I will learn more. It’s difficult for me to adapt to these developments but I feel connected to my family again. My relatives in the village know when I get free and I know when to expect their calls. Everytime I receive a call from them, I feel elated! I answer their calls with a big smile and settle down for long hours of gossip!”

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