Facebook Comes Before Tap Water as India’s Poor Get Smartphones
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In a two-room shanty with no running water in northern Mumbai, Darshana Verma makes tea on a small stove. On a bench nearby, her 18-year-old son, Vishal, messages Facebook friends on the keypad of his Nokia smartphone.
“This is the Internet age,” said the 36-year-old domestic helper, who spent more than half her $300 monthly income on Samsung Electronics Co. and Nokia Oyj mobile phones for her children. “Facebook is there, all these things happen there now -- they make friends, maybe they can even find jobs there.”