Yet again, let me start with a book. Almost needless to add, this too has had its fair share of critics and detractors. In 2021, during the Covid pandemic, evolutionary biologists Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein published ‘A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century’. They speak of our era, arguing that despite what all is happening around us and our being increasingly aware of the events that surround — and at times overwhelm — us, we, as a species, are living in the best time of human history.The world that these wife-and-husband writers inhabit — and the one they speak of — is largely West-focused, where both wealth and comfort are substantial. Yet people are lonely and life itself can seem unhinged. The authors question many mainstream modern practices and posit that the accelerating rate of change in today’s world has outpaced our capacity to adapt. Our brains and bodies have simply not been able to keep up. Human beings evolved to live in clans, but today many of us don’t even know the names of those who live next door. Nor do we care, supposedly.As I step out of those pages, permit me to return to my true self of being a lifelong vagabond. And a person in that lowly category of human is not necessarily one who physically wanders, aimlessly, from place to place, but can also be someone who lets his mind do some of that tramping. Now, I’m going to wander off in another direction — and tongue in cheek at that. As may be known, in order to survive, vagabonds are hunter-gatherers. That said, let’s change the targets of the pre-historic hunter-gatherer and transport him to our dog-eat-dog digital/AI world that is ruthless in its sameness.We are still hunting and we are still gathering, only what we hunt and what we gather has changed from the time our ancestors rushed out with sticks and stones, and knocked off the closest edible animal — or colourful fruit (forbidden or otherwise).Today’s battle is to jump the queue or to overtake on the highway. That said, one has managed to piece together a couple of categories of present-day hunter-gatherers where the weapon is a phone, the hunting ground is an app, danger comes in the form of broken Internet connectivity and the trophy is something bought on Amazon at a hefty discount.Let’s start at the top of the food chain and the (not so) venerable politicians, who begin by hunting for a political platform and then gather enough votes to take over the platform. These are the alpha versions of the hunter-gatherer. They may be easily recognised by the number of followers that they have hunted-gathered. The social media accounts of these persons gauge their successes and failures. (My apologies: there are no failures, there are only successes). Every hunt brings back more followers, more likes, assorted emojis and emoticons that rivals may drool over. These, with the blessings of the deities of the contemporary hunter-gatherer, may translate into actual votes at the hustings.Next, in India, we don’t just marry. We enter the marriage market. We slide into it or are shoved, willingly or otherwise, into it. In the present context, that may be treated as the hunting ground that is packed with biped livestock. It is an area as vast as the sea where little streams exist and are based on caste, religion or some other means of identification. In this ocean, some hunt for husbands and others for wives. Once the desired spouse has been identified, it is time to hurl the spears. There is a process involved. All sorts of people have a say in this. As is obvious, the individuals who make up the couple are first hunted and then gathered.To balance the load of all this hunting-gathering, it is appropriate that something must be said at one’s own expense. Some years back, a friend and I joined some others on a longish hike. It was expected to take most of the day. For this, I had packed a food bag with assorted sandwiches, fruit and other edibles. As the day progressed, my friend and I dug into the bag. After every round of eating, he’d declare: “This is very nice. See how organised I am.” At some point, given that one had laboured over getting this together when dawn had barely broken, I snapped with some irritation: “What do you mean you are organised? I’m organised. I’ve brought all this along.” He calmly smiled back and said: “No, I’m organised. I’ve got you along.” This should stand out as a fine example of management-driven hunting-gathering.At the moment, I’m on the lookout for some accessories for our dog — a raincoat and other sundries. So, in a manner of speaking, I’m also still hunting and gathering, only this is being done on the Net. The hunting ground is the infinity of Net-based markets, but the instincts are the same.— The writer is an author based in Shimla