The project has always been a hit or miss for me. And now just when I thought I had aced it, it was proving to be a mini disaster. I was making vegetables cutlets, taking all the precautions I had picked up over the years. I was diligently regulating the oil temperature, using ample bread crumbs to bind and adding salt in batches. The first few cutlets were perfect, crunchy on the outside and gooey soft on the inside. And then they started breaking up in the oil, first a little and finally spattering in to thousands of minuscule shreds.
Frustrated, I decided to take the help of jagat guru, the omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent Google. I wasn’t sure how to phrase the question. Gingerly, I typed,” Why are my cutlets breaking up on frying?” In a fraction of a second, .57 secs to be precise, 17,50, 000 answers appeared on my screen, graded from most relevant to most liked. It goes without saying that I found the reason for my culinary disaster and was able to rectify it.
Before I go on, a little disclaimer. Since my son works at Google a little maternal bias may creep into my musings. With that said, let me get back to where I was. The search engine continues to surprise me. It’s not just the ease with which knowledge can be retrieved, that impresses me but its helpful attitude. Make a spelling mistake and it will ask in the most nonjudgmental way, “ Did you mean this?”. With its ever increasing data base, and all the ‘alleged’ spying on habits and preferences it now knows me better. To the extent that it guesses my question even before I can finish typing.
Despite all the knowledge that it imparts, wise people refrain from calling Google a guru. “It’s just a man made reservoir of facts and figures, that one can retrieve at will,” they claim, “ A real guru will impart knowledge to the seeker at the right moment.” Slowly more and more people are changing their opinion. This was evident from the thousands of memes and messages honouring Google on Guru Purnima recently. Of course gurus have to be gyani (wise) , but more importantly they have to encourage jigyasa (spirit of inquiry ). The ability to nurture curiosity without the fear of being judged or belittled. Google clearly scores here. You can ask the most basic ( stupid !!) question, and it will not berate you with,” Itna bhi nahin aata.” (Don’t you know this much).
There is a downside to this readily available information though. Remember the time when a word, a song, a name would elude us and we would keep ruminating, and then suddenly, it would pop up in our head. Those eureka moments are now a thing of the past. And I suspect that without this mental exercise we might be getting dumber. It seems that in the not so distant future ‘Google induced dementia’ is going to be a much searched term!
Going tangentially, I like the way Google establishes an ancient concept, “Vasudev Kutumbakam” the world is a family. Irrespective of nationality, religion and race, we humans are very similar in our thoughts and deeds. For I have yet to ask a question which none of the seven billion inhabitants of the earth haven’t asked before me. Once I challenged my husband to ask Google such a question. After a great deal of thought he typed, “How to kill your wife?” Immediately millions of results popped up on the screen. Among them a very sane advice. “Don’t Google it if you plan to kill her. Your search history can be used to incriminate you.”
Which brings me to another question, “ Is too much knowledge a dangerous thing?”Let me Google it.
(carried in the Hindustan Times on 22/7/22)
Hello doctor,
I read your article in ‘Spice of life’ in Hindustan Times about how the search ends at Google.
I found the article quite interesting, amusing and insightful all at the same time. Congratulations to your son who works at Google. I am in information technology myself.
The end of the article had me in splits. What even more intriguing is that you write about Google, your son works there but your email is on iCloud
Thank you for a great read.
Regards
Divya Deep Sharma
Ha ha
Thanks for your observation… made me laugh out loud
I do have a gmail account too but use the iCloud one so that the few ‘fan’ letters I get aren’t buried in all the inane letters and promotional mail I get there
Again thanks for your appreciation and thanks for writing in
Regards
Manju
Dear MG,
I liked the write up under Spice of life, Your search ends here, just google it. HT of today.
Let me share that when I translated from Punjabi to English, in Google translate, almost it was close to correct, but Google can’t differentiate about the gender he and she, and names sometimes funny like Chander in Punjabi to Chandra in English. I don’t know depend on Google but use my brain.
Regards
HARISH MONGA
Thanks for writing in. Yes google isnt perfect…but it tries really really hard.
That said its nice that you are using your own grey cells…it will do you a lot of good
Keep reading….and writing in
Regards
Great writing. That’s really what it is these days. Wonder where we go from here. Thanks for sharing
Ashok Dhawan thanks a lot sir..yes with our dependence on ‘learned’ machines slowly increasing…. A Y2K is waiting to happen… we just imagined it ahead of time
Yes, Di, I agree the future with increased Dementia.
After googling something, it even starts t to provide all the recent updated news on the same topic unless one manages the search history and data.
Very well described and penned! It is so nice to see you write all such small daily events, Didi. Your observations are so scrutinized!
Namita
Thanks for the appreciation Namita…..it’s a case of use it or lose it….and we are certainly not using it that much…since google readily comes to our rescue
Hi Manju ..Crispy ,spicy ,judiciously biased favourably to Google ..Appreciative of google and critical of how lazy one can get at even framing the question to google…Every line is measured to perfection..you can assure a seat for yourself in Google .am sure they will be hiring the sharp incisive minds …Loved your article
thanks mitra di….no one reads my musings like you… each word analysed
ha ha …..after seeing how google pampers its employees I have been after my son to get me in.I have even offered to do 12th again ( with mathematics) and then go for BE….his response is awaited EAGERLY !
Very nicely written. You are back in game. Keep writing more . It is not that far away when Google induced dementia will be a common illness.
I can very well corelate with that mental exercise and clicking of lost words.
thanks….and yes i really miss those eureka moments
Fantastic…loved the way you put everything in so many words … Lovely article and so true ….we are googling everything…maybe without even giving ourselves time to think out the answer…well it saves time…so go along with it….
I don’t have to remember my email too…i just type the first two letters and pop…..
Definitely losing it….because we are not using it…heh heh