Nearer my god to thee

May 26th 2010, The Economist by A.A.K.

In India, the operators have roughly segmented the market using the acronym ABCD, which stands for astrology, Bollywood, cricket and devotion. The idea is that all Indians are fascinated by at least one of these things. Not everyone is interested in astrology, though, and Bollywood and cricket have seasonal appeal. Devotion, by contrast, has a perennial audience.

The manner in which a devout Indian communicates with his God has changed over the years. At my workplace, I often find a couple of my formally dressed colleagues who are in their mid-40s muttering prayers to the wallpaper images on their computers, which consist of pictures of their favourite deity. While they may still continue to carry a picture of their deity in their wallets, this new option fascinates them even more.

The telecoms operators have found different ways to be part of a typical consumer’s daily routine. Instead of waking up in the morning to a jarring beep from his alarm clock, his cell phone can sing a melodious aarti (prayer) that stimulates his senses at dawn. To experience this divine start to his day, he pays 30 rupees ($0.63) a month. Depending upon his religion, he can subscribe to daily quotes from his God which are fed to him, like medicine, three times a day at regular intervals. For this service he can either pay seven rupees for a “weekly pack”, or 28 rupees for a “monthly pack”, which includes a free screensaver. To accommodate variations in the popularity of local deities, the operators have customised their services for different regions. There are more Krishna followers in Gujarat (West India), whereas Kolkata (East India) is known for worshipping Durga.

Other devotional services can help with decision-making. Instead of referring to a physical calendar, subscribers can receive automatic alerts to tell them which dates or times of day are inauspicious for starting a new job or shopping for a car. And the caller tune, which is played to incoming callers as they wait for the person they are calling to answer, has graduated from being a bland beeping noise to a bhajan (devotional song). Bharti Airtel, one of India’s leading operators, has introduced a service which streams live audio aartis recited by bhatjis (priests) to mobile phones from the most important shrines. While the bhatji is intoning those prayers, he is also talking into a microphone placed near the idol. With the introduction of 3G spectrum, the possibility of video streaming is not far off. Given the devotion of Indian consumers to their mobile phones, all this gives the notion of an omnipresent God a whole new meaning.