Remember the BPL SIM Card, ‘Mots’ that once adorned your life? I take you back to the BPL days that gave soaring happiness and couldn’t think of any other mobile network provider. It was pure lifestyle.
One loyal friend that accompanies you in the myriad journey of emotions and life, love, break-up, bond of friendship, laughter, and sadness, that shall never leave you for anything on earth. It shamelessly snoops on you and is privy to the intimate conversations, listens silently without judging and enters the mind or skin without being invited. Stop freaking for it’s no spooky tale that takes a sadistic pleasure in seeing you naked but a trusted friend who never ditches. The SIM card that I have used till Day one and like a lovelorn lover, still miss its departure from my life.
An ode to my good ole ‘Mots BPL SIM Card’ that gave a sense of familiarity, glamour, and love that made me so possessive about. My first tryst happened when I explored Mumbai in the year 2002 and the starter pack stood mightily on the shelf at Churchgate showcasing the romance of a chilled dude and a hot girl graced the cover. It was love at first sight and we went on a timeless romantic spree for six years till it went into oblivion. Such love stories are hard to find.
A simple tagline that BPL came with-Believe in the Best and capturing the human emotions of the young generation with ‘Mots & New Mots’ that re-affirmed our belief in the joy of friendship and campus love. Simple and zany, ‘Mots’ captured our lifestyle be it the frame of two young girls holding their phones cupped to the face or two young lovers flirting on the phone. It brought bundle of emotions to the fore when BPL prepaid accompanied me and was the first Starter Pack that adorned my brand new Nokia 3310 in those days.
I flirted shamelessly with ‘Mots’ and constantly changed my phone number zillion times but stayed with the same brand. Being a BPL loyalist, I rummaged through numbers to land myself a brand new ‘Mots’ number that must have changed more than four times in a year. The cherry on cake is that you choose your number among a bundle of ‘SIM Cards. Mobile numbers always fascinated me in those days of timeless BPL love and blame it on them to push me to constantly chuck numbers to get it replaced by something spicier.
It was the days of colorful and the more the merrier in my life where mobile numbers soon turned into a collection. Of course, BPL always came with innovative schemes that were too good to resist. The talk time was such a killer that every time you recharged by paying 400 bucks in exchange for 260 rupees talk time, it was freedom at might for when the clock struck past 12 p.m., your account is credited with an extra 100 rupees. Sounds cool, na!
The very first SIM Pre-paid card that comes to the mind when I think about my campus memory, or romancing on SMS is without any doubt ‘Mots’. The age when WhatsApp’s was still in the embryo and lacking access to a laptop or desktop, SMS-always saved the day. It witnessed the flurry of romance by accident when someone’s message landed on my number by mistake and she shared so much about her ex. Romancing the ‘Mots way’.
The best that came was on the New Year eve was getting a BPL SIM Card for 500 bucks in exchange for double talk time worth 1,000 rupees. But, the hitch is that the talk time would expire in a week. I remember once was having tea at the stall after lecture when someone was using her phone to speak to a friend and I willingly offered her mine, “Use my phone. There is lots of money on it.” I was having a blast.
BPL’s Mots brought so much joy in my life as a student from SMS at 25 paise or free-calling at 99 paise at night that killed it. No wonder, I was such a loyal customer. The brand knew how to make life simple, be it the ads or pictures on the starter pack, showing young Indians on the move that brought so much of comfort, accessibility, and homely feeling.
Be it ‘Mots Roamfree’ or the various schemes, it just won the heart and to be cool in those days means ‘Believe in the Best’. Looking back at the college days, it was the one brand that I couldn’t dare shifting my allegiance to the competitors, be it Airtel, Vodafone, Hutch, Tata Indicom or Reliance.
It was shuddh pure love for me and felt like wearing the heart on the sleeve. Of course, there were so many pranks associated from changing an old BPL number to a new one with the offers too good to refuse. I have called the girls, from the newly activated number to pose as a modeling or film coordinator and once a friend almost braved the heat on his bike to travel some distances in the Pune outskirt for some fake call center interview. What I got in return was some horrible and very creative cuss words in Hinglish, mc, and bc. Of course, I rolled on the floor laughing. Blame it on ‘Mots’ for giving such incentives at not so expensive notes forked and unlimited fun.
Mots will always be part of my college memoirs and moments associated with staying in my favorite cities, be it Pune or Mumbai where I first started my life. It carries an emotional value to the mind and soul. The SIM cards and starter packs that I have preserved over more than a decade carry a high emotional baggage that makes it near impossible to drop them and tread the path. There was no WhatsApp or smart phone in those days but the simplicity of the SIM gave so much happiness to the mind.
Of course, I only shifted loyalty when this heartbreaking news that was equal to losing a friend knocked me down. One fine afternoon in Mumbai, it was reality check for there would be no ‘Getting into the Loop’, the tag BPL shops are famous for. I had no choice. BPL ceased to exist. From Airtel to Reliance, Vodafone and Hutch, I tried everything at some point or the other, but none gave the mojo and fun that ‘Mots’ poured in the heart.
Over those years in India, I went on a collection spree similar to coins or stamp collection that gave unbridled joy of hoarding starter packs. Pure fascination and an experimentation with the tiny chip that brought so much happiness where the prized possession sends me down the emotional lane to hark about the first date, kiss or friendships carved. I lost some of them while the rest, it took me a harrowing time to retrieve. A pot of treasure that no wealth or material achievement can ever replace.
SIM cards have always been about cities in my life. I remember the joy of holding it between the fingers that brings a floodgate of memory that feels like winning an award. Thanks the sky for the small wonders of the world in the form of this package. It’s pure gold for me and lending so much expression to the entire carefree days.
BPL was all about love and an emotional route that resembles a treat for a hardcore loyalist like me bringing soaring happiness that feels like touching the sky. The blue color embodies the brand that not only carved its place under the sun but touched the heart to give such relatability factor. My wish is one day they can be back to reclaim their place like they once did to bring a smile on faces and connecting hearts to paint the sky blue.
Thank you for the small joy ‘BPL’. As your tagline eschews the brand, Believe in the Best and I am sure many from my generation or the crowd that have known you, would break all barriers to reunite with your product.
Phones and SIM Cards make life a simple temptation. Who can forget as the clock struck 10 p.m, we would be hooked to the phone and dashing in some corner in the building, in this case, sitting on the stairs to SMS and whisper sweet nothings for it’s about love, romance, and naughty something.
PS: This post is not paid or promotional feature for ‘BPL Mots’ but remiscing on the days when it was my most trust brand bring so much joy during the college days, something very close to the heart.
Love
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