Friday, March 3, 2017

The eternal curiosities of our questioning minds!

Great thinkers have said a lot of things, stressing upon the importance of questioning, for that is the foremost quality required to gain wisdom.

Well, that applies to thinkers that are great. But what about the mediocre ones like me? I had the irresistible urge to add an "and you?" to that last sentence but what right do I have to make assumptions about someone else's thinking capabilities??Hmm?

I think I always liked asking questions. In my quest to be an active participant in class discussions at school, I have incurred the wrath of many a teacher. Thankfully most of my teachers were committed to their work and patiently answered my queries, relevant or otherwise. There are exceptions of course. Imagine it is the last period of the day and the poor exhausted person wants to quickly get done with the lesson and rush to the one thing that is a solace in his drudgery - his evening cup of tea. Here is a "I want to flaunt my non-existent intelligence" specimen that is throwing questions just for the sake of it! Sensing neither his ire nor that of the classmates eagerly waiting for the ring of the bell I would continue as if I were on the ISRO team that is about to send the next satellite to space.

Fast forward a few years,we started living in the internet era. This is the time, when a few hours spent exercising only ones forefinger on digital devices immerses us in an illusion that we have a string of honorary degrees behind us. This halo behind our heads becomes the most luminous during a visit to the doctor. "Is this contagious?" "Will this fever affect my optical nerve?" "Are you sure its not penguin flu?" We have to pound him with questions to such an extent that he would be seriously considering taking a break, doing a Masters in Veterinary medicine, and start treating those that, leave alone questioning, cannot even talk to him!

The other day I went to the mall and entered a shop. Seeing me browsing, the salesperson innocently approached me to ask if I needed help. Little did he know that there were almost ten blank lines waiting at  the tip of my tongue with question marks attached. After inquiring a lot about the durability, efficiency, trust-worthiness of something that I was about to buy for less than $10 I finally made a choice.  I reached the counter and opened my bag and realized,to my dismay, that I had left my wallet at home. Do I need words to describe his expression or mine?

Then there are those serious questions that society loves asking about our personal lives. "When are you buying a house?"; "Why are you shifting home? That one was so convenient!?" ;"When are you getting back to working?" ;"Why are you working and not taking care of your home?" The list is endless.

Sometimes I feel one needs to carry a board that says "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS" the moment one steps out from home. It must also have a hammer attached to it that bangs our head every time we decide to adorn the questioner's cap. Oh yes, the one that loathes such questioning does not always stop from asking, The content or context may be different, We all do. The questions we ask may be more aligned with our own beliefs and may or may not be in sync with the general beliefs of our times.

Social media is generally inclined towards criticizing and chastising this nature of the society. But sometimes such questioning may help us to think of our states and decisions from different perspectives. It might trigger a thinking pattern that results in something beneficial for us. Hence instead of blindly shutting ones ears to any queries around us, it may be a better idea to have a filter instead and take to heart those that may make sense when thought about patiently. For the rest we have an easy option of simply ignoring.

19 comments:

  1. A nice one Jaish! Inquisitve minds are generally not liked in most Indian schools. The remaining situations that you described almost seemed to be happening, as I read:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. To ask or not to ask that is the question
    while some of them can cause a lot of tension
    and then there are the others might be cause for indigestion
    we are not at all wary of making that unlawful ingression.

    A good funny thought proving post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stepping in :).... We all think questioning others is our birth right ;D ha ha

      Delete
  3. Ha ha:) I too wish to carry a placard reading 'None of your business' held high when I go out:)
    Nice read, Jaish:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ha ha:) I too wish to carry a placard reading 'None of your business' held high when I go out:)
    Nice read, Jaish:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I used to think that we have a right to ask questions to be more informed. Your post now makes me think .....may I should count 1 to 10 before asking one..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the way we ask also matters.... Better to sound less intrusive

      Delete
  6. Back with a bang Jaish.I loved this post.I too like to ask questions to gain more knowledge-but not the personal kind;which I too bhor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For some, the only knowledge they want is top ten personal problems of those around them hi hi

      Delete
  7. Not having the wallet after asking all those questions sounds quite a dangerous thing to do :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes.... Thanks to my stars he was understanding :)

      Delete
  8. Hahaha....those situations that you described, the tongue in cheek humor, it was all bang on ...really nicely visualized ...."asking questions" topic could be dealt with this way ...niice

    ReplyDelete
  9. The teachers must be happy, all our questions are now answered by Google baba. And yes, I want that None of Your Business placard. Worst are kitne mein liya...

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am question bank too of my own kind. Not the productive questions that are to be asked in schools and classes or meetings now...but useless stuff.. I pep my kids with qns like what did you eat, when did you eat, do you need more? LOL...it's has got to do with eating only looks like :P

    ReplyDelete
  11. Questions are good. Listen, answer those and to those that are relevant. You are right, questions are necessary too. Sometimes we start paying attention to things that we ignored earlier.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think figuring out the reason behind the many questions being asked helps you in deciding whether you should respond or ignore.

    ReplyDelete