Sometime back, there was a newspaper column that, among other things, said something like:

“First there was self respect, then there was Wikipedia.”

I thought it was a smart line, apart from being true of course. But it was not until an online chat that I realized its extent of painful accuracy.

On this fateful chat, I was asked about the pros and cons of education abroad. I said that it was not entirely true that getting a foreign degree helps to bag the dream job and that it makes more sense (in some disciplines) to pursue it for what it would do to your education and knowledge rather than your pay packet.

“Do it if you want to learn something for yourself” is what I wrote.

Pat came the reply: “For that, I have google.”

I had nothing to say after.

So, there is a whole host of people out there – dangerously young and ambitious – who would put classroom education (at the Masters’ level mind you) at par with doing a search on Google?

I wish the answer would be ‘no’. But, when I look at knowledge and awareness levels around myself, I can’t help feeling that it is a resounding and depressing ‘yes’.

Have started writing again... simply for the sake of it. It's ironical in a way. England was where I thought I would have all the time to muse, mull and make stories, not Bombay. But this city, with its dust, distance and dirty trains is keeping me more at home than I had expected. Going out, it seems, needs to be planned a week in advance if you want to make things comfortable. Of course, the definition of comfort is very subjective (and thank God for that!). If there is just one thing that makes Bombay acceptable, it's the people. Everything else is best lived through by holding your breath and shutting tight your eyes.

Do I hate Bombay then? I don't know. So far, I have no reason to like it.