24 ''Express Yourself'' and ''Stay Together'': The Middle-Class

Across millions of households in India, amid normal conversations about finances, ed- ucation, dating, relatives, and the home, a new topic is emerging: the proper role of the mobile phone in the family. Mobile use is rapidly growing in India. Subscriptions grew 73 percent between March 2005 and March 2006 alone (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India 2006). Though overall penetration is still a modest ninety million lines (8.2 percent of the population), the flourishing Indian middle class is driving much of the current growth. Some families are purchasing their first mobile, others are adding a sec- ond line for the spouse, and still others are adding lines as their children reach certain milestones. The handsets might be new, but the conversations about the mobiles are not. Instead, the questions about when to purchase them (or not) and how to use them (or not) are closely related to all the traditional conversations mentioned above. When Indian families talk about mobiles, they are also talking about money, about dating, about the home, and so on. Drawing on three related studies of middle-class Indian families, this chapter consid- ers how the mobile phone reshapes and reflects existing tensions within families. A wide body of research exists on how personal and mediated-communication technolo- gies affect and reflect family dynamics. However, this chapter breaks new ground by viewing these processes in the context of urban family structures that are being renego- tiated in response to rapidly changing social and economic conditions. Thus we argue that mobile use is central to our understanding of the tensions facing the new and expanding Indian middle class; it is not only a symbol of middle-class consumption but also a lens through which to see the family dynamic itself.