Delightful snippets from far away, ever so close.

Above: SMS instructional booklets from India via Deven Sansare,
of Umbrella Design in Mumbai. According to Deven, these are “thinner
than a cigarette pack, slightly bigger and I guess, equally addictive.”

Above: Ohne Kommentar. Deven explains that combining Hindi and
Roman text for communicating became popular in the 90′s, and is now
firmly established in popular culture.

Above: A rose is a rose is a rose…

Deven offers more insight: “For me, the booklets represent how different
kinds of people are adapting to new media using old ways. In fact, the office
boy (who watches entire feature films on his cell phone) borrowed them
from me when he saw them on my table!”

Above: Love Potion No. Cobra.

Above: Somehow, Pat Benatar’s ageless “Love is a Battlefield ”
comes to mind.

बहुत धन्यवाद, Deven! My sincere thanks for this intriguing window to a
fascinating world. A perfect way to extend the work many of us are
engaged in right now with Arabic cell phone messages.