Technology…..keeps on happening; ways of doing things keep changing. And we always have the people who insist that the old way of doing that thing is, without doubt, the better way.

I was chatting with Chandan, who said,”technology cant replace the smell and the faded sheets”. This, in spite of the fact that he says he’s read most of the last few books on his laptop! I must say, I’ve never read a book on my laptop, and in fact, to me, reading and working on my laptop are mutually exclusive activities. When I want to take a break, I close up my computer, take a nice book, and settle down with a cup of chai…

We also keep having debates on bngbirds, where several people are convinced that the use of photography to document birds and their behaviour is “short-cut birdwatching” and people should only describe the bird in words and sketches.

I suspect that this is not a new trend, because I remember that when cassette tapes came out, I saw lots of people insisting that the old spool tapes had fidelity that was quite unmatched.

The advantages of regular photography are still touted over digital photography.

My friends’ mothers say that batter ground on the stone grinders tastes far better than “these modern food processors”. According to many elderly ladies, rasam made in the old lead vessels (which would melt down if you were not careful) have a taste that the new vessels don’t impart….and cooking with a pressure cooker (even for dal) is not the same as ‘regular’ cooking.

A house is supposed to be much better than living in an apartment. “The floor belongs to someone, the roof to someone else, not even all the four walls are yours, you might be sharing at least one with a neighbour,” my father in law used to remark.

I am sure that when paper was invented, there would have been people who said it was just not the same as the feel of papyrus; and when papyrus was invented, people must have asked what was wrong palm leaves, and when THAT was used, someone would have said it was far better to etch things in stone, that was so much more permanent…

The river moves on; those on the banks like to think that the place they are at, is the best.