Rusty brains, cobwebbed memory and modern technology

A simple question posed in the office had most stymied for an answer. I faltered and recovered quickly, gave the answer but lost credibility as the one-source of information. The question? What does South Asian countries mean? I started with Southeast Asian countries and then realized that I was mixing up the two so corrected myself and said India, Sri Lanka, etc. Once upon a time, I used to be quick at these, before technology took over, before I began relying on Google, and then on Wikipedia to answer all my questions.

Now when I sit down with a pen to solve my crosswords, I’m struggling for answers that I subconsciously know but can’t remember, and answers to clues that a few years ago you could wake me up from my sleep and get the right answer. Then: What’s the capital of Bulgaria? Sofia. Now: What’s the capital of Slovak Republic? I don’t know meets just blank.

The ad campaign war between The Hindu and Times of India just emphasized how badly my ‘general knowledge’ had taken a beating. I didn’t do as bad as the guys in the ad but for every relevant question I didn’t know or got wrong, there was not a single vapid news story that I got wrong.