Does this stop with just houses? Definitely not. Old is gold, but new is sold. For us old-timers, there’s an attachment to tradition, customs, and familiarity. Take, for example, the idly/dosai dough grinder. Traditionally, every family had a very heavy stone grinder—a bowl-shaped bottom with a circular depression (not quite a hole) and a cylindrical stone on top. Then came technology and innovation: the mechanical grinder, which looked similar but operated by power.

To embrace new technology, you don’t just need a spirit of adventure, adaptation, and courage—you also need money. With our coffers not even half full and lacking the arrogance of a fat purse, we couldn’t imagine replacing our century-old traditional grinder with a new one. But then our elder son, after starting his job, saw the struggle his mom went through to make idly batter. He bought us a mechanical grinder.

Even that was huge, and cleaning it wasn’t easy. But by then, we were too late to fully embrace this technological leap—it had already moved on. Within a few years, a newer model of grinder with rollers was introduced. Another leap forward. Why can’t these leaps be a bit fewer and farther apart? Suddenly, our mechanical grinder was considered "old technology." We waited a few more years before acquiring the not-so-new roller grinders.

This cycle will continue, and we’ll keep changing grinders. How these rapid technological advances have affected our lifestyle—positively or negatively—is a story for another time.

One thing is certain: we’ll keep upgrading our mixers, refrigerators, TVs, washing machines, water purifiers, and so on. But the one thing we haven’t changed in over two decades—and likely won’t change anytime soon—is our furniture. It’s not sentimentality or a desire to cling to possessions that keeps us holding on. It’s pure survival instinct in the face of "financial disaster."

Our sofa sets are made of cedar wood, and the dining table and cots are all teak. If we were to replace them today, the cost would be six times higher, and the "new technology" materials wouldn’t be nearly as sturdy. The furniture we have is for life. Technology won’t drag us into even thinking about changing those!

Continued in 179. Gaps In The Horizon - Part 7