Pros and cons of ‘Guru Google’ debated

Tribune News Service

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Jalandhar, July 31

Not getting an answer to some question? Google it. For today’s generation, Google has become a tool that solves every problem in seconds and a new term has been coined for it— ‘Google Baba’. But is it alright to make one dependent upon Google Guru? Students of a city school presented umpteen valid points as to why it was absolutely right to be dependent upon Google and why its excessive use was only making the man run out of his own power of thinking.

The occasion was the inter-school debate on ‘Googleisation-Thumbs up or Thumbs down’ that was organised by The Tribune Trust. The event was sponsored by Chitkara University and was held at Innocent Hearts School.

The students from city schools participated with enthusiasm and came up with new points. They explained why they were in favour of and against Google Baba and threw light on the pros and cons of Google.

In the inter-school competition, 12 schools took part and a total of 24 students participated. During the event, the students raised an important point about developing our own software just like China where people don’t use Google but their own search engine ‘Baidu’.

“Why cannot India have its own search engine?” was the question raised by the students who were speaking against the phenomenon of Googleisation.

One of the students said man has become a tool in the hands of Google as there is a high level of dependence on it among the people. The judges at the event also asked counter questions after every session.

Savreen Dhawan of Delhi Public School, Jalandhar Cantonment, won the first prize, Jahnvi Mahajan of Cambridge International School who gave her views against Google, bagged the second prize and Archita Jain, a student of Saffron Public School, who spoke in favour of the motion, clinched the third prize.

Apart from it, consolation prizes were also given. Nidhima Sharma from KMV Sanskriti School, Hitharhi Angral from Cambridge International School and Tarun Kapoor from Innocent Hearts were awarded consolation prizes.  

Delhi Public School received the award for the best school.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Rural) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar was the chief guest who exhorted the students to remember their basic duties despite being glued to the smart phones.

He also said they must respect the laws, rules and regulations.

The judges were Jyoteesh Malhotra, associate dean of GNDU, regional campus and Pardeep Arora, assistant professor at IT department in KMV College.

Dr Anup Bowry, Academic Secretary of the Innocent Group, was also present on the occasion. 

Fact file

• Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, Savreen Dhawan said in a lighter tone said that she didn’t Google to speak on the topic. “Everything was spontaneous. I just listened to what my competitors were saying and spoke at the moment.”
• I believe that there must be a balance in using any gadget or software,” she added.
• Such events should take place often as these enhance the level of confidence.
• The winner of the second prize, Jahnvi spoke against Googlisation and answered the questions raised by the guests with confidence. She also expressed her desire to participate in such events in future too.