Technology and the Unseen Ingredient

While scrolling through an endless stream of tweets, I came across a fascinating video showcasing robots efficiently making, packing, and delivering pizzas. In today’s age, with the constant influx of various technologies, this doesn’t come as a surprise. Such advancements have become commonplace lately. From ChatGPTs Bard and numerous others, there seems to be something new emerging every day, even every minute. Whether we like it or not, we are bound to adapt to these technological developments.

However, it makes us to think whether these advancements are truly beneficial, and if they align with our genuine needs. For instance, would a robot capable of making pizzas or any other dish have the measure, the way we say like “Chutakibhar Ajwain” or “Jyada nahi Thodasa Dhaniya”? Would it be able to learn and pass down age-old recipes that were handed down from our mothers, grandmothers, and to them from theirs?

Would we say that the robot at one place prepares a better Pav Bhaji than the one at another place? We proudly claim that the GolGappe/Paani Puri served near our locality is unparalleled in the entire world. The coffee served at an Udupi restaurant or the chai at a local tea stall—these are just a few examples of the human touch we cherish and give it a certain importance, identity.

Undoubtedly, technology is the need of the hour, but the human touch holds an equal, if not greater, importance. It is this touch that distinguishes a homemade “Maa Ke haath ka achar” (pickle made by a mother) from a store-bought, factory-sealed jar of pickles. Technology may possess all the necessary ingredients to create any dish in the world with utmost perfection, but it cannot replicate the intangible ingredient of love and affection. Only a mother can infuse that extra sweetness for her child or only a wife can add that extra spice for her beloved husband.

Can a robot add that special ingredient? No, it simply cannot.

Vb