My daughter was telling my husband about Worli art & I was about to ask him to Google it( for visuals explain art better) but watching him patiently listen to our daughter , I stopped. Memories of reading books (sans illustrations) and imagining the features of characters, the scenery and so on flashed across my mind.
Can I let Google stop us from expressing ?
One morning before going to school I told my daughter to keep an extra jacket . Somehow it almost always rains around Indian Republic day. Before i could pass down my memetic wisdom , I heard the now familiarly annoying sound of Siri “how can I help you?”
My daughter told me weather doesn’t look good -Courtesy Siri.
In the world of “Google it” and “ask Siri” the questioning mind is finding answers without human interaction of the real kinds. We talk thru Facebook,watsapp, snapchat & Twitter.
The element of surprise when meeting Friends after long, is gone. Now we are already updated about our friend’s last holiday, the last movie they saw, also the last hot beverage they had -thanks to Facebook. Also the exotic holiday locations and novelty food you can barely pronounce is very familiar- thanks to google.
When running late for meeting, google maps is there to tell the alternate route ( come on we live in a world of alternate facts)
You no longer need to ask for directions unless you don’t know how to read google maps (I remember local press-wala (ironing guy) & paan ki dukaan were the traditional route teller. When at Uni in Melbourne we kept melway in the car for directions)
When was the last time you opened dictionary to look for meaning? I wonder how many out there still have a dictionary (the paper bound and not the app)
We learn recipes from blogs and YouTube – you also learn how to exercise there! Or just press the round button of your iPhone and be transported to “you in wonderland with Siri”.
Fashion is no longer discussed with friends rather searched in quite comfort of mobile-phone by visiting blogs and Instagram.
We would rather Google about the burning relationship trouble than talk to friends (in person)
Even cure for depression is available on Google and rarely in the comfort of your friends. Since most friends are rocking their life with awesome selfies and food clicks (even though a lot of awesomeness is fakebook )
Political opinions are formed on Facebook walls and long debates are published there while shorter ones are saved for tweets.
If you don’t understand fascist from pacifist and neo-liberal from epistemological nihilist – Google it !
I recently saw Britannica being used as objet d’art at a hip pub in Delhi’s Khan Market. When I was younger it was my go to book in quick need of research.
The only good humour was a note at our doctor’s wall “Patient will be charged extra for annoying the doctor with any self-diagnosis gotten off the internet”
About Author- do not Google as those who don’t exist on first page of Google- do not exist at all. No point asking Siri as she/he can’t pronounce the name
