Mumbai: Have no time to get to the temple any more? Just turn to your mobile.
With the press of a button, Hanuman will appear, accompanied by chants of the Hanuman Chalisa. Press 1 for flowers to descend on the deity, 2 for diyas to light up his feet and 3 to garland him.
Christian, Sikh or Muslim? No problem. Most mobiles can worship Jesus or Guru Nanak, too, or receive daily verses from the Koran or the Bible.
Religion is becoming serious business for telecommunications providers in the country.
Such services once meant listing an astrologer in the pre-programmed address book of cellular phones. Now, there are ringtones from bhajans to Christmas carols, shlokas to Sufi songs. Some cellphone firms are even tying up with niche groups, such as the Art of Living Foundation and International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskon) to offer regular content and advice to worshippers. Others are gaining sponsorships from temples and churches to send messages of faith.
In many ways, the marketing tactics cater to the ever busier lives of Indians who still want to be able to pray wherever they are—and, these days, many Indians, at least in cities and towns, are rarely without their mobiles. Users also say they like being able to send meaningful messages to friends, adding that most of them could benefit from digital doses of philosophy and gospel, to deal with the problems of life, work and family.
“Scriptures of every religion have deep meaning behind them and are very relevant in our times,” says Frank Christopher, who works at the Parliament Museum in New Delhi, and actually copies down some of the biblical text messages he receives, sentimentally storing them in his father’s old cigar box.
Even non-religious consumers are signing up, saying they appreciate features like ringtones and caller tunes with a touch of spirituality because callers might be soothed by the sound of the Gayatri Mantra over, say Bunty aur Bubli’s hit song Kajarare, the knock-knock scene from Don or the old Rrrring-rrrring.
“It is not a fad, I assure you,” said Pankaj Sethi, Tata Indicom head of value-added services, the industry term for features of mobiles beyond calling. Tata Indicom, the main brand of Tata Teleservices Ltd, began offering such services 18 months ago and, Sethi adds, there “is no sign of this trend going away.”
If anything, the trend is firming up, say industry watchers.
They believe that religion and related services can play a big role in India’s fast-growing mobile world, which boasted 166 million users as of last month. The Internet and Mobile Association of India says the current value-added services market is set to grow 60% by the end of this year from its current market size of about Rs2,850 crore to Rs4,560 crore.