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Photo: S. Subramanium

Ghost call Checking a phantom ring is better than missing an important one

That’s one more thread in tech’s tightening grip on us. In a growing phenomenon called ringxiety or fauxcellarm, sufferers hear the SMS beep or ring tone, even feel the vibrations when these are non-existent. Medical dictionaries might christen it “phantom mobile call”. Ah, sweet revenge! Mobile users began their public assault by stepping onto balconies and verandahs to connect loudly and wirelessly.

Then, cell phone in hand stepped into the streets. They walked down crowded streets merrily chatting with disembodied voices.Soon they launched the beach-offensive. In a Pavlovian response, people reach for the mobile when you sit talking to them. In front of that hypnotising 6”x 3”, you, who can speak, hear and gnash teeth, are a powerless shadow. Your listener keeps casting glances at the little monster’s face for SMS. You were then startled by the sight of shoppers talking to themselves in shop aisles. Mind-boggling choices must have done him in, you thought, till you noticed the wires and the widgety buttons in the ears. The wire-free avatars dug a new low in public behaviour. Ringxiety is probably poetic justice. Retribution for mobile users’ contempt for the convenience of those around. Lesson: you can’t escape the wireless web you’ve spun around yourself.

“Ok, I do feel the BlackBerry vibrating in my belt even as I reach for it on the table,” admitted R. Kannan, a businessman. “I guess that makes me a junkie. But BB is my lifeline.” The CEO of a start-up wakes up in the middle of the night to check messages in his BlackBerry. “I’m sure his head throbs with the jingle,” snapped the wife. Computer operator Anjali clearly hears the tune in her head. “I’ve been using it for seven years now!” she protested. Mrs. Pillai, who probably takes her cell phone to her pillow, said, “People want to talk. Checking is done in lieu of conversation.”

A cloud of psychobabble has collected around the syndrome. Rajeshwari laughs it off, even if a bit sheepishly. “It’s not a disease, you know,” said Anjali. “My mom tries to take off her glasses even when she’s not wearing them. It’s like putting the lid on the wrong bottle or reaching for coffee after the cup’s been taken away.” She absolutely must stay connected, she said. “Any day, I’d take a ghost call than miss a real one.”

A few think it’s a trendy affliction. “Inevitable,” said a writer. “After many years and multiple calls, the mobile is a biological extension of me. Checking it is like rubbing my nose. I don’t need a reason for it.” She probably “wills” her phone to vibrate, when she is waiting for an important call.

Is this some form of social anxiety, angst to respond? “In medical terms, anxiety is associated with fear,” explained Dr. Mohan Raj, psychiatrist. “Checking a phantom ring isn’t in that class. Let’s call it ring anticipation.” How about the “pre-feel” (it’s going to ring) and “post-feel” (vibrations when it’s not there)? “Mere habit,” he said. “Totally harmless.”

Aren’t heavy users a stressed lot? “Not really. Have you noticed people waiting at places like the bus stand and railway station? Earlier they used to look bored and glum. Now I see them chatting away animatedly into a mobile. It’s good to see so many happy faces around you.”

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