24/04/2025
The Rise and Fall of the Mighty Nokia”
— A Parable for Our Time
By Hassan Arouni
Once upon a time, not too long ago, a small, sleek device called the Nokia 5130 ruled the pockets of men. Its sibling, the Nokia 3110, was a badge of status; the N70 was a throne in the palms of the privileged. Even the folding Samsung, with its clap of closure, echoed power. To own one was to speak without speaking. In those days, people would beg for them. Some borrowed and never returned. Others stole — not out of malice, but out of desperation, out of the hunger to belong.
They were objects of desire — coveted like cattle in a dry season, pursued like gold beneath riverbeds. Across villages and cities, in taxis and marketplaces, these phones made their owners stand tall, as if their worth came from the device in their hand.
But look at them now.
Today, they lie discarded — plastic bones in drawers, forgotten relics at the bottom of old handbags. Once sold at the price of a cow, now they are given freely, if not thrown away. A child today would laugh at what made a man mighty yesterday.
And so the elders say: "No condition is permanent."
This is not just the story of phones. It is the story of life. Of fame. Of fortune. Of beauty. Of power. One day you are the voice of the people, the face on every screen, the one they fight over. The next, you are yesterday’s buzz, replaced, outdated, and irrelevant.
So, whether you are a ‘nobody’ or a noble, a thief or a chief, remember this: what the world values today, it may discard tomorrow. Do not sell your soul for a moment’s glory. Do not measure your worth by society’s fleeting tastes. Walk humbly, treat others kindly, and hold your head high — not because of what you own, but because of who you are when everything is stripped away.
Let the story of the once-mighty Nokia remind us all:
Even giants can become pebbles, and pebbles can become diamonds in time.
