Don’t argue with Indians over sixty. Just don’t.
They grew up without Google, food delivery apps, online banking, GPS or "How-to" videos. If something stopped working, they opened it up, poked around with a screwdriver, gave it a strategic whack and somehow got another five years out of it.
They knew whether Amma was angry by the way she called out their full name from the kitchen.
They walked or cycled to school, often carrying enough books to qualify as weight-training equipment.
They played cricket with a wooden piece for bat and a rubber ball in the streets till sunset, used slippers as wickets, and negotiated rules with the diplomatic skills of the United Nations.
Their childhood safety gear consisted of "Be careful" and a prayer.
They drank water from public taps, once in a year shared one Gold Spot with 4 friends, bought one-rupee snacks from the corner shop and survived without hand sanitisers, protein shakes, or nutrition apps.
They remember waiting for Sunday morning cartoons, Chitrahaar, Rangoli and the weekly movie on Doordarshan. Missing a programme meant missing it. There was no rewind, no replay, and certainly no "Watch Later."
They know how to write inland letters, send telegrams, dial rotary phones, and patiently wait weeks for photographs to be developed before discovering half the pictures had someone's thumb in them.
Without Google Maps, they could find an address using landmarks like "third lane after the banyan tree, opposite the milk booth, next to the house with the blue gate."
They repaired things, reused things, and stored things. Somewhere in their house is a plastic bag full of plastic bags, a drawer full of mysterious keys, and a collection of wires that might become useful someday.
This generation saw India before computers, adapted to the internet age and now casually video-calls grandchildren across continents or immerse themselves in the Insta reels.
Leave Indians over sixty alone.
They didn't just witness change. They surfed a technological tsunami, adapted to every wave, and are still standing.