The latest version of the Nokia 3210 handset features Hindi as one of the language options for the menu. Advani presented the phones to eminent Hindilitterateurs Nirmal Verma and Padma Sachdev with the hope that other regional languages would also be included in the phone menu soon.

So how does it read? The "call register" option has become the "kaal panji", "call divert" has been transformed into "kaal antaran" while an option like ringing tone is referred to as "sanket dhwani" and "divert when not answered" is "anutarit ateh antarit". The cake is perhaps taken by "kanmpan sanket", the words for "vibrating alert".

Is the Hindi easy and user friendly? Managing director Nokia Mobile Phones (India) Parikshit Bhasin defended the choice of words and said that the Hindi user interface was developed by a team of Nokia personnel from India and Finland.

"It took us many months to develop the menu and we consulted the best language experts before we finalised the menu," he said. The Hindi user interface was jointly developed by Indian and Finnish personnel. The characters have been designed to provide best possible clarity, legibility and calligraphic shape. "We are proud to demonstrate our commitment to the nation by addressing a long-outstanding demand to bring communications technology in the common man's language," said Bhasin.

"This innovation will allow us to reach a much larger population in the rural areas," he added. It is the first time any mobile phone company is making available a phone in an Indian language, Bhasin claimed.