Where is the China Market in Ahmedabad City?

Repairing an old mobile is always a challenge. I collected an old Lenovo Vibe K5 Note from a relative. The speaker was fiddled-with in a botched-up repair surgery, later replacement of a part brought back the speakers of the phone. But it came at a cost of Rs 2500/-…

My phone stopped charging. Now what do I do? Questions in my mind…

Since the phone was not charging fully, my first reaction was to buy a 12Watt Veloce micro fast charger. But the phone still does not charge. Now I wonder if I need to change the USB cable. In my curiosity, I stumbled upon something…

I remember seeing a mobile accessories shop near Siddi Syed Masjid at the western tip of Relief Road. The shopkeeper fiddled a bit with my phone and announces that the IC needs to be changed. I asked to give the phone back to me…I became irritated when I heard the IC word. This is invariably the reason given to nudge the customer to buy a new phone. He returned it to me with a ‘as you wish’ look.

Someone suggested to take it to China market further down the Relief Road as one heads east…

He said it’s a three- storied building and you will get everything. Yes, I am heading towards another repair surgery of my phone. As I was walked along the street, I could not spot any repair shops they must be hidden from plain view, I told myself! The walk and search was endless… Suddenly I noticed a small repair shop. It was a hole in the wall. It is filled with 5 people in a tiny space yet well equipped! They not only had tools, miniature soldering-iron but also a microscope (!!). The guy at the counter tries to sell me the USB cable but it doesn’t work. Ha! What next I wondered? He quickly passes it to the senior repair guy who promptly checks and announces that the charging socket needs to be replaced. Reluctantly I decide to go with it.

My Journey to the China market is disrupted now…

I waited for more time while my poor phone goes through a quick replacement of a part. Now it is put to charge again. But it is still charging very slowly. But I am assured it will surely work. I spent almost an hour standing at the shop and lost my patience. I paid Rs 150/- for service charges and walk out confused. I decide to take a stroll to the China market, anyhow.

Now am in front of astonishing and grand China market.

Wow! What a place! It’s like a shopping centre of mobile phones, mobile repairs and accessories. About 200 shops and every shop has a small repair counter. I check again with shops about the USB cable. The phone doesn’t show any charging. The shopkeeper is puzzled just as much as I am. Wondering why it is not working?...He asks the repair person, who checks the voltage. The voltage is below 1.5Volts, he says. The USB cable will not work. I overheard the conversation and went to him. I dutifully narrated the entire repair story which happened minutes ago. He declared the replacing of the socket was not done properly. He suggested going back to the earlier repair shop. Otherwise I would pay fresh charges for the same work.

China market is core of the mobile market. The repairers here get so much work that he can afford to advice on trivial issues such as mine. He advised me to go back to the earlier repair shop.

I came back to the repair shop again. It was getting dark and the place was becoming noisier. I decided to give it one last chance before leaving. My perseverance pays off as now I meet the Ustaad. He heard me when I spoke about the voltage not being right. He opens the phone again and fixes the part correctly. He checks the voltage before setting it to charge again. Oh my god, I am elated, the phone was beamed up with 70% charge in a matter of few minutes. Thanking the Ustaad, I started walking out from the core of the mobile repair world to the periphery. Magically, I can see many small repair shops, these were hidden from my view earlier. 

My walk started from the periphery to the core and then back to where it all started.

 

 -By Himadri Das and Purna Sarkar