A camera, A portable music player, A gaming device, A video recorder, A small computer, A GPS device,A map, A compass,A flashlight and A mobile phone.

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when, if you wanted to have all of those things, you had to carry all of those things.Yes, our mobile phones provide a world of possibilities. It’s about facebook, twitter, email, games, apps – a mobile society. Mobile phone is likely the last thing you see before you go to sleep and the first thing when you wake the next day.  Call it good. Call it bad. It just is.

The earth was flat once. That was until about the 4th century BC, when some ancient Greek philosophers proposed that the earth was in fact a sphere. Internet made world flat again. Everything became just a click away.  It changed how we learn, work, and communicate.  Confronted with a problem, first instinct is to Google. Using internet meant being stuck on a desk sitting at home or in the office. Or pull a laptop out of a carry case! And then came mobile phones!

With an estimated 5 billion mobile phone connections in the world, not to mention the emerging number of tablet computers and other on-the-go connectivity gadgets, mobile technology has altered the way we live. Even with the smaller screens, the superb resolution and usable touch screen makes the internet truly mobile. The apps make the whole mobile web experience simple and satisfying. This has allowed people to quickly adopt mobile internet. The impact these devices are having, and the tide of change that is following in wake of their adoption is fundamental: We want information when we want it, where we need it. We don’t want to wait. A year back I bought a smart phone, Android LG optimus p500. It opened a new world to me and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker! It was as if entire world has come in the palm of my hands. And I was not the only one who is moving to mobile web and for good reasons too!

If you’ve got a mobile phone, you’ve probably got a camera on it. Everybody’s a one-man or one-woman reporting crew so Smile! You’re on camera!  And photo is uploaded on facebook too! And your friends, family from around the world give you instant feedback ! Gone are the days of thinking whether to take a picture or not( there was limit 36 pictures in a film role), getting it developed and showing it to near and dear ones.

Standing in line? Killing those last five minutes before quitting time? Stuck in the doctor’s waiting room? Stuck in the traffic? There was a time in human existence when all of these occasions would have left us staring at the walls in a zombie-like stupor, particularly if there’s not a magazine or book handy. Now? I Chat with a friend. Or Surf the Web, Check my stocks. Fling birds at pigs. If you can’t find something to entertain you for a few minutes of down time, you just haven’t downloaded the right app. There’s no excuse to be bored. World is now just an app away!

If Jesus were born in times of Google, Facebook and Twitter  (a youtube video), How mobile has changed the way we live Infographic reflect the changing times. www.vodafone.in/fun shows what fun you can have on the mobile with internet.

For me my mobile is a camera, FM radio, MP3 player, a window to facebook, twitter, youtube, a game player love the apps TomCat, Google Sky, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds and whatever my son downloads and teaches me(We are into alchemy genetics these days). But it has been more than that- a savior. It lets me watch my favorite soap or serial “Bade Ache Lagte Hain” With one TV, two kids, a husband, a house, a job and a blog- I hardly get the remote of TV or when I get it – I am too tired to watch. My TV time gets lost between Doremon, Chota Bheem, Supernatural, IPL matches, news, stock market. Like millions of people every weekday, I want to tune in to my favorite serial to follow the trials and tribulations of the characters and even blog about them at times, What does Sony serial-Bade Ache Lagte hain tell us about money?, Big Switch In these serials lives are portrayed with passion, courage, love; stories are told with a flair for the outrageous, or even a hint of danger. Thing that happens in the soap world are dramatic with characters coming back from the dead, generation leaps. It feels as if karma has no boundaries when you’re running around serial land.

At times, the storylines, plots, and aggregation of characters all tend to bundle up and really turn you into questioning what will happen tomorrow or the next week – Will Ram and Priya fall in love? Will they separate? Will Nihiraka’s scheme work? That’s how I like to de-stress or realize how small my problems are – maid not coming, daughter not studying for test next day, son’s homework, husband’s travel , deadline tomorrow-there are people with problems bigger than mine.  It is my idea of FUN(BTW The term “soap opera” is deceiving, for it is not about soap, nor is it an opera! It is called this because in America soap companies were big sponsors of the radio shows back in the 1930s. The opera part comes from the fact that operas tell a story, just as the soaps do.)

I had given up on following Bade Ache Lagte Hain and felt pretty bad about it. (Okay I find Ram Kapoor cute -like a teddy bear but BALH is also a mature love story) Tried catching up on reruns and weekends but alas something or other came !Then I came to know of myeduniya.com which uploads link to hindi serials -including BALH within three to four hours of telecast.  With my smartphone I could watch Bade Ache Lagte Hain at my time, yup early morning when I make dhabbas for my children for school, in my kitchen, and that too ad-free! I followed Big Switch too on my mobile. It just makes my day and it’s all possible because of the internet on mobile! Long live internet on mobile!

This is entry for Vodaphone:Internet is fun! contest on indiblogger