GOOGLE VERSUS GRANDMA

By SHAGORIKA EASWAR

Long before the war between Australia and Google broke out, it’s been Google versus Grandma. This is how it has played out so far.

In The Wayfinders, Wade Davis laid out reasons why ancient wisdom matters in the modern world.

Comprising the 2009 Massey lectures, the essays described ethnosphere as “the sum total of all thoughts and intuitions, myths and beliefs, ideas and inspirations brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness”.

The award-winning anthropologist, ethnobotanist, filmmaker and photographer who was National Geographic explorer-in-residence, wrote that in a world hurtling towards the destruction and extinction of countless species, elders were the holders of knowledge that could perhaps bring us back from the brink. Knowledge about how to navigate by the stars, how to read the clouds, the value of medicinal plants and so much more that is also in danger of being lost as it is discarded in favour of modern and evidence-based information.

In The World Until Yesterday, Pulitzer Prize-winner Jared Diamond posed a question along the same lines: What can we learn from traditional societies? From traditional ways to raise children to the contribution of grandparents in the well-being of little ones, he outlined the many ways in which elders add value to our lives. But along with the emotional and social aspect, he also described something that not many think of. The fact that elders were the main repositories of information in the pre internet age.

Older people know the tribe’s myths and songs, who is related to whom, who did what to whom when, the names and habits and uses of hundreds of species of local plants and animals and where to go find food when conditions are poor. Hence caring for older people becomes a matter of life or death...

Both these books, which I read several years ago and go back to periodically for a refresher course, brought to mind Nani, my maternal grandmother. Physically tiny and frail by the time I got to know her beyond her loving persona, she was feisty with a wicked sense of humour, running her household like a benevolent dictator. While she had abdicated the day-to-day running to her daughters-in-law, she kept track of everyone’s special needs and favourite dishes of various visiting grandchildren. We’d gather around her on the roof-top where we slept under the stars on summer nights and she’d tell us stories about the “olden days” including misdemeanours of our parents! What was cooked, the perfect blend of spices and ingredients – with no recipe book in sight – and which dish was good for what condition. Tummy upset? Khichdi would do the trick. Or a tulsi-ginger chai would soothe a cough.

Some of these her children carried forward, but the knowledge admittedly got diluted. Even more so in my generation as we adopted more convenient, readily available short-cuts.

Pills and nutritional supplements filled the gaps left in diets that relied increasingly on fast food.

But now I see evidence of Nani’s wisdom everywhere.

Remember when we moved  en masse from metal cooking pots to nonstick ones? They were lighter, easier to clean and touted as the healthier option as one could cook using much less oil. Turned out they weren’t that healthy after all. For years now, there have been warnings about how the teflon lining is harmful and people have begun moving away from them. But it’s a gradual move, as the alternative cast iron pots that are fashionable now are super expensive. Yes, the same heavy black pots our grandmothers used can now set you back by $500. Each.

Remember the copper pots or even the hammered ones that needed a regular application of kalai? Well, you can bring home a set of five aluminium pans with a copper hammered exterior for $2000.

So now we’re hunting in grandparents’ attics for old cast iron pots that were cast away disdainfully.

Dark Waters starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway details the contamination of drinking water by perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA), a chemical used in the making of Teflon, and its devastating effect on animals and humans in a rural community in America. Yes, Hollywood is not always the teller of truth and nothing but the truth, but for those who are not yet fully on board, the film should come as a frightening wake-up call.

My son gifted me a weighted blanket for my birthday. It’s ultra soft, fluffy and luxurious. It also goes without saying that it is heavy. I snuggled under it and told him it was like being enveloped in warmth, love and tradition.

“Tradition?” he asked, doing the one-eyebrow raise he’s learnt from me. “Mom, these are fairly new, so more like innovation.”

So of course, I had to tell him about razais, the cotton-filled quilts we chucked in favour of down-filled blankets. These were lighter and warmer, we said. Well, now “weighted blankets” are promising a happier, more natural sleep.

Remember the fresh-smelling laundry when we dried clothes in the sun? Year-round back where we come from, but at least during summer here. But many of us thought this was a silly waste of effort when dryers could do the job more efficiently. Now environmentalists are again reminding us of the positives of harnessing the sun’s power. And it’s free!

Remember when we used jholas to bring groceries home? Then those were ditched in favour of plastic bags which, as knowledge came full circle, were again replaced with reusable bags made of cloth and other materials.

Remember your grandma telling you about how your parents were delivered at home with the help of a midwife? Now midwives or doulas are again gaining in popularity as more young women opt for the comfort of birthing their babies at home. In the comic strip For Better or For Worse, Elly considers a midwife for her third baby “because it’s the modern age”.

Remember the taste of haldi milk? I recently spotted turmeric and pepper being sold in capsule form to help fight joint pain! Oh, and also a charcoal toothpaste for whiter teeth.

And now suddenly, rice water is everywhere. Many years ago, Ecoholic author Adria Vassil had spoken to me about the benefits of watering plants with water used to rinse rice. One not only saved water, one used the minerals on the surface of rice that were otherwise washed down the drain. But now I see ads for face washes with rice water that promise to leave one’s skin clear and bright. One product also had soapwort in it. Aha! I thought, so now they’ve also discovered reetha which was what women in India and neighbouring countries used to wash their hair with once upon a time. Turns out I was wrong. Reetha is also known as soapnut, and soapwort is a different plant – but the principle is the same. A return to what we once had and discarded.

However, this comes with a caveat. In an article in The Print dated September 4, 2020, Himani Chandna writes that physicians in India are fighting new emergencies caused by excessive consumption of turmeric, methi, and vitamin D, etc., that is driven by COVID-19 fears.

Just because something is “natural” doesn’t mean it’s safe. But then your grandmother could have told you that!

Not everything old is gold, of course, and we are living longer and healthier because of many miracles of modern science. All-knowing Google is a fabulous resource, but there’s much value in old wisdom, filtered through generations of experience, and we would do well to remember that.

There’s value to a simpler life. We need to consume less, share more, design for efficiency and long life, and make refusing, repairing, reusing and recycling our go-to options, as David Suzuki wrote in a recent column.

• The Wayfinders by Wade Davis, is published by Anansi, $15.95. The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond is published by Viking, $38.