JAY JOSHI
Everyday life always has a number of exciting challenges as well as opportunities for us, and we need to learn a number of things in order to make life comfortable. From something as simple as how to tie a tie to something as complex as cooking a new dish or how to tackle an infant, we are always learning new skills as we go through life, but in recent years, there has been a change in how we pickup these skills.
Earlier, parents and the elderly people in the house, or even friendly aunties or uncles from neighbourhood. But in recent times, we are increasingly logging on to the Internet and looking up ‘How to…’ Youtube videos. In fact, Youtube has become the world’s second largest search engine. Global data shows that Youtube processes around three billion searches every month, and around 25 percent of the total traffic on the site comes from mobile phones. Suffice to say that the Internet is now teaching us life-skills that were so far the purview of elders of the house. Is it a boon or a bane?
For some, the change strikes an emotional chord, while for others, it’s just another convenience brought in by technology. Technology by itself does not affect human relations, but it is the ways in which we decide to use it that decides how things change, says Siddhi Prabhu from Sanquelim.
“Any phenomenon has pros as well as cons. For instance, logging on to Youtube for learning life hacks could help many people who live abroad, away from their parents. Thanks to the Internet, they can learn traditional Indian recipes, even when they are away from their home and their culture. This helps keep our culture alive in a way, `` elaborates Prabhu, but also highlights the downsides of overdependence on technology. “There is however a problem when you are very much here, among your friends and family, and prefer to head to the Internet instead of asking people for simple everyday life tasks such as cooking. In this case, you are deliberately distancing yourself from people around you. This should not happen”, she adds.
Gaurang Naik from Ponda too raises a new set of concerns about the trend.
“When we speak to parents or elders we form and reinforce relationship bonds. But apart from that, we get a lot of traditional knowledge, stories, memories, and whatnot. Going to the Internet for learning everyday life skills may not be a very wise thing to do.”
Alex Fernandes from Merces also thinks along similar lines. “If you talk about learning cooking using Youtube, you see that most dishes shown on Youtube are highly popular restaurant style dishes. There may not be much information on many traditional Goan food that we eat everyday. Also, the Internet will not get you authenticity, as in, coconuts from Goa will be different from coconuts from other parts of India. The internet will tell you what to add to your dish, but won’t tell you where to get that ingredients from. If you try to learn life skills form Internet, the glass I am afraid, is only half full.” quips Fernandes.
On the other hand, Nikita Srivastava from Panaji brings attention to the fact that the Internet offers a gateway to knowledge from around the world.
“I think in a way it is more convenient because you get a whole range of different opinions online. Here, you get knowledge from different types of people. While we may believe that our parents have more experience in life, their experience is limited to a certain area, and a certain culture and society. But with the Internet, we learn things not only from places where we belong, but also from other places and cultures. This is enriching.”
Many youths we spoke to also noted that whereas parents and elders might get annoyed in case we hit roadblocks that we cannot overcome and keep pestering them with questions. On youtube, you could rewind and forward the video any number of times as per your convenience.
To sum up, for those who value the warmth of traditional face to face conversations, learning life skills from friends and family is indeed quite rewarding, but for those who want convenience, the Internet is the answer. The knowledge is present everywhere. It is up to you to choose a way that suits your own temperament.
