Spare laptop accessories stacked inside a Nehru Place shop that specializes in laptop and mobile repairs.

In a dimly lit, cluttered workshop in Delhia€™s Nehru Place, the air hums with the sound of whirring drills and the crackle of soldering irons. Sushil Prasad, a 35-year-old technician, wipes the sweat off his brow as he carefully pieces together the guts of an old laptop. It is a daily ritual a€" resurrecting machines by stitching together motherboards, screens, and batteries scavenged from other trashed older laptops and e-waste a€" to create functional, low-cost devices.

a€oeIndia has always had a repair culture a€¦ but companies are pushing planned obsolescencea€

“Right now, there is a huge demand for such a€˜hybrida€™ laptops,” Prasad says, his hands swapping out a damaged motherboard. “Most people dona€™t care about having the latest model; they just want something that works and wona€™t break the bank.”

Across India, in metro markets from Delhia€™s Nehru Place to Mumbaia€™s Lamington Road, technicians like Prasad are repurposing broken and outdated laptops that many see as junk. These a€oeFrankensteina€ machines a€" hybrids of salvaged parts from multiple brands a€" are sold to students, gig workers, and small businesses, offering a lifeline to those priced out of Indiaa€ …

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